Deuces Wild
by aprilshowers0101
Summary: AU story began before HBP but updated to include small bits of cannon....Sixth Year. Strip poker, alcohol and a broken heart don't make for the best of celebrations.
1. The Queen of Broken Hearts

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fics. ) But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

A/N – I originally began this fic before HBP so it's set in an alternate universe. I put this story aside after being turned down by another site who basically said my story wasn't good enough for them. After reading HBP, I came up with another idea for a fic see _Please Remember Me_. I was once again turned down by the same site, but was fortunate to find this one. I got such rave reviews for the story, that I decided that I'd pull this one back out, blow the dust off of it and give it a sprucing up after finishing _Please Remember Me_. Therefore, you'll notice that, although I left this story set in an AU, I have incorporated a few of the details from HBP.

Okay, now after that long winded author's note, here is chapter one of

**DEUCES WILD**

Chapter 1 – The Queen of Broken Hearts

Hermione Granger sat at the vanity in the room she shared with the other two female sixth year Gryffindors, the exotic Parvati Patil and the gorgeous Lavender Brown. Her elbows were resting on the tabletop and her face was buried in her hands. She had spent the past ten minutes in this position after she had sat down to attempt to tame her hair after pulling on the jumper that her mum had bought her just before the term started at that posh new boutique in London. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror and asked, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Sounds like a little fun, deary, not that you would recognize it."

"Argh!" Hermione jumped up in frustration. "I don't need this from you too!" she shouted at the mirror as she turned back toward her four-poster. Talking mirrors were one of the few things that Hermione absolutely loathed about the Wizarding World, especially this one that spent much of its time conversing with the two brainless twits she called dorm-mates.

She threw herself onto her bed and lay staring at the ceiling. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Why was she doing this?

Okay, so she knew exactly why, but she could try and convince herself that it was because she was tired of being looked at as a know-it-all prude or because she was tired of her roommates telling her that she needed to learn how to have fun or even because Seamus had basically dared her to participate in his little Gryffindor group activity.

Merlin knows she could even try to convince herself that it was entirely the mirror's doing. Of course, all of these were partial reasons, but they could have been easily dismissed. There was only one reason why she would be descending the steps to the common room momentarily, and it could be summed up in two words.

Ronald Weasley.

Hermione took another deep breath, but this one was a little more ragged as she felt tears starting to threaten their escape again. The hurt and anger and disappointment were building up in her again, and she couldn't help but think back to this afternoon and how she had come to accept Seamus' invitation.

'----------

_It had been an uncharacteristically cold and dreary September day so when Hermione entered the common room just after everyone was returning from dinner, it was already illuminated with candle light and the glow from the fire in the hearth. Researching a project for Advance Arithmancy, she had spent almost the entire gloomy Saturday in the library...alone, a fact that didn't brighten her day any. Since returning to Hogwarts nineteen days ago, she had been spending a lot of her free time alone. _

Harry seemed to always be busy with homework or his special "lessons" with Dumbledore, or throwing himself back into Quidditch, since McGonagall had appointed him the Gryffindor team's captain. Ron and Ginny had been gratefully helping Harry out with his Quidditch practicing, especially Ginny who hoped to secure a position on the team in one of the open Chaser positions. When they weren't helping Harry, Ginny spent her free time with Dean Thomas, whom she had been dating since the end of last term, and Ron had spent his time with anyone but Hermione.

_About a week or so before leaving the Burrow to return to school, Ron had started acting weird and distant around her, and it had her quite upset because she couldn't place her finger on anything that had happened to cause this reaction from him. He had even passed on several opportunities to have a good row, and this had, puzzlingly, left her feeling rather empty. _

As such September days go, it had been an altogether disappointing day. She hadn't been able to find the specific information that she had wanted for the Arithmancy project, not that she had been able to concentrate on it. She had thought that her friends would seek her out to spend time with her today of all days, especially since it was entirely too nasty to be out on the pitch.

_She had honestly expected Ron to not take notice of the day, not with the way he had been behaving around her lately, but she really didn't think that it would pass Harry and Ginny by so easily. She had been miserably mistaken. _

_She knew that at this hour any hope of spending some group time with her friends was out of the question because Harry would be absent due to serving detention with Snape this evening because of a little incident between he and Malfoy in DADA yesterday afternoon. However, climbing through the portrait hole, Hermione had hoped that she would be able to convince, or perhaps bribe, Ron into some time alone this evening, even if it meant playing Wizard's Chess all night._

_Hermione hoped that if she could just get him alone, she'd be able to find out what had been bothering him lately. She just really needed to get the whole thing cleared up so she could get her old Ron back and her life could get back to some semblance of normalcy. Needless to say, she was extremely disappointed when the only shock of red hair that appeared to be in the common room belonged to Ginny, whom was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs near the fire. Hermione sighed in disappointment and headed toward the youngest Weasley. _

"Hey, Gin," she said as she walked around to sit in the empty chair next to her friend. Just as she was sitting down she noticed that Ginny looked like she was currently fighting a very severe cold. "You look terrible."

Ginny sniffled and said, "Oh, gee, Hermione, thanks." Her voice was very nasally and she sounded quite congested. She smiled slightly at Hermione and continued, "I feel pretty terrible, too. I thought as the day went on I'd get to feeling better, but I think it's only gotten worse."

"Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey. I'm sure she can give you something to make you feel better."

"I was just…" Ginny had started but was interrupted by Lavender and Parvati.

"Hey, Hermione, can we… Ginny you look terrible. You know, just because you have a boyfriend now doesn't mean that you should let yourself go. I've got a couple really good Glamour Charms that I could teach you." Ginny just looked at Hermione and rolled her eyes at Lavender's comment.

"Did you two need something?" Hermione asked quite flippedly.

"Oh, yeah. You see, Hermione, Seamus has planned a little game tonight for a few of the fifth and sixth years, and we just wanted to make sure that you weren't…well…we don't want…what I mean is" Parvati started tripping over her words.

"We wanted to make sure that you don't go running off to McGonagall." Lavender finished in a rush.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "What kind of game are you planning?"

"Oh, you know, just Muggle poker," Lavender answered.

"Lavender, you know gambling is strictly forbidden on school grounds. You aren't planning on playing for money, are you?" Lavender and Parvati both shook their heads no. "Alright then. So why would I go to Professor McGonagall?"

Just then Seamus walked up and caught what he assumed was Hermione agreeing to keep her mouth shut. "Great! See I told you two that Granger knows what fun is."

"Excuse me!" Hermione interjected and glared at her roommates. They were constantly making snide little comments under their breath but loud enough to make sure Hermione heard them that she didn't know how to have fun.

"I think I'm going to see Madam Pomfrey," Ginny whispered just as she slid as inconspicuously as possible from her chair. Hermione knew that her friend knew when to make a speedy exit.

Seamus sat down on the arm of the chair Ginny had just vacated. "These two said that you didn't know how to have fun and that you'd never keep your mouth shut about our little game of strip poker, but I knew better." He winked at Hermione.

"WHAT?" Hermione exclaimed and then lowered her voice and returned her glare at the two girls. "Strip poker?" She growled through clenched teeth. "You just said it was Muggle poker. There is no way I'm going to sit back and…"

"See, Seamus. I told you that our prude little prefect wouldn't keep her mouth shut," Lavender interrupted.

Prude?' Could this day get any worse? Is that what people thought of her? Did they think that she was a prude who didn't know how to have fun? Was this what Ron thought of her? She could feel tears starting to fill her eyes. Normally name-calling didn't affect her, but it had just really been a bad day. She closed her eyes to will the tears away. The last thing she wanted was to let **them** see her cry. She felt movement in front of her and quickly opened her eyes.

Seamus had gotten down on his knees in front of her and put his hands on each arm of the chair looking up at her.

_"Look, Hermione, we know that you just like to follow the rules and there is nothing wrong with that. We just want to have a little fun…good, clean, innocent fun and there's nothing wrong with that either. Everyone who'll be playing will be at least fifth year and we're putting up a modified Disillusionment Charm so that anyone who enters the common room won't see us…it'll just appear that the common room is empty. We're not starting until eleven o'clock so you don't have to worry about the younger students. So, come on, Hermione, just this once can you look the other way?" _

Hermione sighed. She couldn't believe that she was even considering agreeing with this. But Seamus did have a point. Everyone who would be playing was old enough to make that decision and it sounded like they were planning on taking the precautions not to make a scene in the common room for everyone to see. Everyone had been so tense since Voldemort's return had been reported that maybe a little harmless fun would surely be alright. After all, if she didn't agree to this, they would inevitably end up playing somewhere else in the castle and be out after curfew. She took another deep breath and sighed again. "I can't believe that I'm saying this, but…okay."

Seamus jumped up and said, "Great!"

"But, Seamus Finnigan, if I find out that anyone under fifth year was involved, I'm turning you all in, got it?"

Seamus put his hands up as if surrendering. "Okay, okay. Got it!" He started to walk away but turned and grinned at Hermione. "You wanna join in on the game, Granger. You know you're dying to see me nekkid!"

Lavender shot Seamus a death glare that didn't go unnoticed by Hermione who laughed and blushed slightly. "No, that's quite okay. Thank you anyway. I'll probably see if Ron wants to play some chess until Harry gets finished with his detention."

Seamus furrowed his brow in confusion. "Er, Ron has detention tonight, too."

"What? When did this happen?" Hermione shook her head and sighed in disbelief. "Oh, what did he do this time?"

Seamus choked back a laugh, but it was Lavender who answered. "Professor McGonagall caught him and that new Hufflepuff fifth year…oh what is her name?"

"Cecily." Parvati chimed in, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, that's it. Ron and Cecily got caught in the empty Tranfiguration classroom, snogging. McGonagall walked right in on them going at it. I heard that Ron had her pinned up against McGonagall's desk so McGonagall gave him detention for not being able to control his teenage hormones. She was furious and was still fuming when she came into the Great Hall." Both of Hermione's roommates burst into fits of giggles.

Hermione felt like she was going to burst into tears and vomit at the same time. Her heart felt like it was being ripped from her chest and her lungs felt like they were constricting making it difficult to breath. It hurt her so much that not only had Ron turned into a typical boy but that he was a typical, hormone-driven boy that obviously wasn't driven toward her. Every false hope Hermione had ever harbored was beginning to eat at her insides. All his awkwardness and distantness now made perfect sense.

_Hermione could feel the tears threatening to start to pool in the corners of her eyes. She was not going to fall apart in front of her classmates so she needed to get away quickly. She would not let them see her crumble. She couldn't. They all would know that she had feelings of more than friendship for the red-headed sixth year whom she spent years being simply friends with. She took a deep breath and smiled as she stood up. _

"Well, I guess I'll just do some reading then." She picked up her bag and headed toward the stairs back up to her room. She heard Seamus say her name as if questioning if she was alright but kept on walking.

Maybe if you weren't such a prude it would've been you.' Hermione stopped as the thought entered her head, then turned back toward the small group of her peers now occupying the comfortable chairs. "Seamus." Once he looked back toward her, she tucked some stray hair behind her ear and bit her lip a moment while she debated internally. She noticed that he was smiling expectantly at her. Finally she gave up. "Eleven, right?" Hermione saw his face light up as he nodded. "Count me in."

'----------

Hermione sat up on her bed and wiped her eyes. She hated it when she acted all girlish. She didn't know why she continually allowed Ron to break her heart. Perhaps it was because that every time she agreed to let go of her feelings and move on, he would do something that gave her hope that his feelings were more than platonic. Sometimes it would be a sweet gesture and other times it would be his ears turning red when she did something nice for him. She had even caught him on occasion just sitting and staring at her.

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts when the Grand Clock chimed eleven. She stood up, smoothed her jumper and pulled her bushy hair into a high ponytail that allowed a few curls to slip out and frame her face. She then picked up her wand and cast a Glamour charm that Ginny had taught her that summer to take the redness and puffiness out of her eyes.

Because she had no plans of going anywhere but down the stairs into the common room, she decided to leave her wand stowed safely in her bedside table's drawer. She had this gut feeling that if she took it with her someone would get hexed before the night was over. Letting out one last sigh, Hermione knew it was now or never, so she made her way out of her dormitory and toward her night of reckless abandon.

'_Yeah, right!'_

'----------

Entering the common room, Hermione was glad to see that it appeared to be empty. This meant that Seamus' modified Disillusionment Charm had worked. This allowed her to relax slightly at not only her decision to hold her tongue on the matter of this game but also at deciding to participate.

She made her way toward the far corner that held the largest table in the room where Lavender had told her they would be playing. Her roommate had explained that they had chosen that particular corner, not only because of the spacious table but mostly because it was the corner furthest from the Portrait Hole and the least used area in the common room. This ensured that only those students that knew about the gathering would venture to this particular section of the room.

Hermione was not surprised to see that Lavender and Parvati were sitting next to each other, nor was she unsurprised that Lavender was in the seat next to Seamus. Hermione knew that they had one of those on-again/off-again relationships. She assumed by their close proximity that they were currently "on-again."

Surprisingly, Dean sat in the chair next to Seamus. It wasn't necessarily the seat choice that was surprising. Dean and Seamus were best mates so it was a given that they would be perched together. Hermione was actually surprised to see Dean actually in attendance since he was dating Ginny and Ginny was obviously in bed sick, if Madam Pomfrey had even allowed her to return to her dormitory at all. Of course, though, Hermione knew that Dean wasn't so insensitive that he would be playing strip poker if his girlfriend was in the hospital wing. They had apparently already come to an agreement about tonight's little "group fun."

On the other side of the table sat Neville, Colin Creevey and two fifth year girls that Hermione only knew by their first names, Sarah and Elizabeth, whom were sitting directly to the left of Parvati. There were two empty seats: one between Dean and Colin and one between Elisabeth and Neville. Hermione made to sit next to Neville when Seamus interjected.

Standing and holding out the chair that he had just emptied, he said, "Here, Granger, you can sit next to me. Budge over Dean." Seamus gave Dean a slight nudge on the shoulder to move him along. When Seamus returned his attention back to Hermione, he waggled his eyebrows slightly before saying, "You know, to keep me in line. Don't want me to get too wild on everyone and end up with you having to punish me." He emphasized the word punish and smiled suggestively at Hermione.

Hermione, who could feel herself blushing furiously, was trying to figure out what alternate universe she had entered when she breached the Disillusionment. _'Is Seamus flirting with me?'_

She was just about to politely refuse with an excuse about never having a chance to talk with Neville anymore, when she noticed the stabbing glare that Lavender was shooting at her. Apparently her roommate's relationship with the host of this evening's events wasn't so "on" after all. An evil thought ran through Hermione's head as she made to sit in the chair that Seamus offered her.

_Hmm, maybe this will be fun after all.'  
_  
Once he had pushed Hermione's chair in, Seamus smiled like the cat who got the cream and plopped down in the chair that had previously been occupied by Dean. "Now, Granger, you just be sure to keep those pretty little hands to yourself, especially if you lot manage to get me naked."

Once again Hermione was blushing. She really couldn't believe what she was about to do, but she had decided in that moment that maybe tonight was a good time to develop a new social personality. She leaned slightly toward Seamus, gently placed her hand ever so lightly onto his forearm and in a soft and amazingly seductive voice said, "You really needn't worry about my hands doing anything improper, so I trust that I can expect the same from you as well. You know, so that I don't have to, as you said, punish you." She ended her perfectly executed attempt at flirting with a quick wink.

Hermione heard Lavender gasp at the scene that had just taken place. _'Yes. That's right, Lav. Hermione Granger, bookworm extraordinaire, knows how to flirt.'_ Of course she did. A person couldn't room with Lavender and Parvati for going on six years and not learn a thing or two. It also helped being best friends with two of the best looking sixth year boys and witnessing many unsuccessful attempts by the Hogwarts female population to flirt with said friends.

Even though she knew what she was doing, it felt really weird to be acting so openly girly, and at first, she thought maybe it had been a mistake to choose Seamus as her first attempt at flirting. However, when he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "And if my hands are only partially improper," Hermione had known that her attempt was not only successful, but apparently welcomed, as well.

Hermione giggled. Yes, she giggled, and smacked him playfully on the arm. "Honestly!"

Seamus leaned back into his own space and said, "So, can I offer you some of Finnigan's Famous Punch?"

"Yeah, like she'd drink it," Lavender said almost under her breath.

"I probably don't want to know what makes it so famous, do I?

"Probably not," Seamus answered not very enthusiastically. He must have assumed that he had crossed the line with offering her a drink that she knew very well contained alcohol. Hermione knew that he was probably expecting her to order him to dispose of the liquor.

"Well I guess I won't." Seamus started to frown; however, Hermione simply reached over past him to grab an empty goblet and said, "So let's see just how famous it is."

'----------

Thirty minutes later, Hermione looked down at her fifth hand of the night and smiled broadly. She couldn't help herself, she just felt so giddy and couldn't hide her satisfaction with the three-of-a-kind that she was holding. She knew that part of what she was feeling was the effect of that Famous punch, and she knew very well that it was alcohol that made it famous. She really shouldn't be drinking it. She knew it! It was a very un-Hermione-like thing to do, but maybe she was tired of being Hermione-like.

_'Let the transformation of Hermione Granger begin_!'

Around the table, most of the players, including herself, had simply lost their shoes and socks, except for Lavender and Sarah who had both lost their jumpers as well, but still had on the T-shirts that they had worn underneath. Hermione had a feeling that both girls were simply trying to see who could get naked first and ultimately have the attention of all the boys at the table. Currently, everyone except Hermione and Colin had folded, and they were waiting for Seamus to decide whether he was staying in or folding.

"Hmm. I don't know." He leaned toward Hermione. "What do you have there, Granger? You sure are looking quite smug."

Hermione quickly pressed her cards to her chest and said, "I don't think so, Finnigan. You'll have to be willing to pay to see these cards, but if I were you, I'd fold. But, you know, since I'm not. Stay in. You're looking a little overdressed."

He reached over and tickled Hermione's side playfully and said, "Ah, you're quite the saucy one, aren't you. Come on, Granger, show me yours and I'll show you mine!" then he winked at her.

Hermione just smiled and shook her head while continuing to hold her cards close. She distinctively heard Lavender make a noise that sounded remarkably like a snarl and this caused Hermione to laugh, but everyone assumed she was still laughing at Seamus, whom had spent the last thirty minutes flirting mercilessly with Hermione.

Of course, she had spent much of the same time reciprocating. She wasn't sure which pleased her more: the fact that a boy was finally paying "that" kind of attention to her or the fact that his flirting was seriously hacking Lavender off. She had a feeling that it was quite a bit of both. Hermione found herself wondering why she hadn't taken up this flirting thing long ago. It was almost as satisfying as a heated row with Ron. Almost.

Ultimately, Seamus had decided that Hermione was bluffing and decided to stay in. When cards were shown, Colin had a pair of Kings and a pair of eights and Seamus had three tens, but it was Hermione's three Aces that won the hand, causing both Colin and Seamus to shed another article of clothing.

Colin had just pulled his jumper off and discarded it to the floor, and Seamus was about to remove his T-shirt since he had chosen not to wear a jumper, when two Gryffindors breached the barrier of disillusionment capturing everyone's attention.

"Potter. Weasley. Good to see you survived detention! Come to have some fun?" Seamus inquired, but before they could answer, Hermione interrupted.

"Harry!" she squealed and jumped to her feet. She ran toward them and threw herself at Harry wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist much like one would expect a little girl to throw herself at someone she hadn't seen in some time. Harry stumbled back a bit looking wide-eyed at his female best mate. His hands went instinctively to her arse to maintain equilibrium, which earned him a death glare from his other best mate.

"I missed you so much! What did that slimy git make you do this time?" She giggled uncontrollably as she hugged Harry tightly and buried her face into the crook of his neck. However, through her giggles she was able to catch Ron muttering an obscenity under his breath.

Harry quickly leaned forward to force Hermione to release her grip on him and place her feet on the ground. He then put his hands on Hermione's shoulders and pushed her out to arms length. "Hermione, are you drunk?" When she just continued smiling and giggling uncontrollably, Harry sighed, shook his head displeasingly and looked around Hermione toward Seamus, "What has she been drinking?"

"Just some of Finnigan's Famous."

"Dammit, Seamus, what the bloody hell were you thinking giving her that shite to drink?" Ron snarled.

"Honestly, Ronald! I'm a big girl now and can make my own drink choices. You're acting like he poured it down my throat. Well for your information…"

"Hermione, love," Harry interrupted speaking softly as one would to a small child successfully directing Hermione's attention back to him. "You did realize there was alcohol in his punch, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah! Just thought I'd have a little fun tonight. You know celebrate. Life. My life." Hermione was speaking to Harry but was looking pointedly at Ron.

Harry looked at her for a moment and then sighed once again. "Alright, then." Harry leaned forward and kissed her temple and told her to be careful and not to drink too much. Hermione turned and smiled at him.

"You always take care of me, Harry." Hermione placed her left hand on his right cheek. "You never hurt me, you know that. Not like some people." Hermione was still smiling at Harry but he had looked in his peripheral vision at Ron whom he knew Hermione had been referring. His focus quickly snapped back to Hermione when she leaned forward and kissed him on his left cheek and then hugged him again. Hermione was vaguely aware of the snickering and whispering coming from Lavender and Parvati's direction.

"You two want dealt in? The nights still young and we've only been at it for a couple hands." Seamus' words brought Hermione's focus back to the game at hand. She pulled back and took a step back from Harry.

Harry was quick to answer, "No, thanks. Snape had me cleaning the Owlery without magic and even after using the Cleansing charm, all I want is a shower and then bed."

"Alright. Can't blame you there, mate! Weasley?"

Ron was just about to say something when Hermione made her way back over toward her seat, grabbed hold of Seamus by his upper arm, and pulled him up.

"Hermione?" Ron questioned just as Seamus had said "Granger?"

Smiling she stepped up close to Seamus and in a low, husky voice she didn't even know she possessed said, "You know it just occurred to me…" she began then grasped the bottom of his T-shirt and started to lift it. "I believe you owe me this."

Seamus chuckled then leaned forward and placed a tiny, quick kiss on the tip of her nose. "Indeed, I do." Hermione didn't need to turn around to know that Ron was red with fury. Seamus removed his shirt and handed it to Hermione who slowly drug it up across his chest eliciting a hissed breath out of Seamus. She then dropped it over his shoulder to the floor with a smirk on her face as she turned to glare at Ron.

'_Take that Mr. I-Can-Go-Around-Snogging-Everyone-But Hermione!' _

Just as she was thinking about saying something to the same extent out loud, Seamus stepped up behind her, wrapped one arm around her waist pulling her close to him and leaned in so that she could feel his breath on her ear and his bulge pressed against her buttocks.

"Why don't you sit that pretty little arse of yours back down so I can get you out of your shirt." He just barely kissed her earlobe before returning to his seat. Hermione suddenly became aroused in a way that she never quite expected. Between the arousal and the alcohol, it was all she could do to remain standing from the light-headedness that she suddenly felt. However, she was brought back into focus when she once again heard Lavender snarl and was pretty sure that she had heard the same sound coming from Ron.

"So, Weasley, you in?" Seamus asked as he returned to his seat and picked up the deck of cards to shuffle.

Hermione locked eyes with Ron. There was a look on his face that was almost predatory. He turned his glare toward Seamus and practically threw himself into the chair next to Neville.

"Yeah, I'm in."

'----------

About a quarter 'til one in the morning, the game was down to Ron, Hermione and Seamus. Dean had went to bed just after midnight stating that he promised Ginny that he wouldn't stay up too late, and Colin had moved to one of the sofa's in the opposite corner of the common room with the fifth year Gryffindor girls and was currently attempting to settle a petty argument between the two girls as to whom was the better kisser.

'_Who would've thought that Creevey could be such a Casanova?'_

Neville, poor, poor Neville, was currently passed out in his chair with his head resting on the table. He had nervously started drinking large amounts of punch after the first girl, Lavender (not that there's any surprise there), lost her T-shirt to be clad in only her bra. He had continued drinking large amounts until finally about thirty minutes earlier when he said out of the blue, "I wish the two of you would just shag and get it over with. I can't take two more years with all the bickering and being awakened in the middle of the night to her name being moaned. It's just insane," and then his head hit the table with a loud thud.

Everyone sitting at the table just looked around at each other, completely puzzled, then burst out laughing. Had she had more of her wits about her, Hermione would have been inclined to attempt to wake Neville and ask him which of his roommates he was referring to.

It was probably fortunate for Neville that he had passed out when he did because just about ten minutes later Lavender had lost her bra in a hand to Hermione. Lavender, of course, had been more than happy to oblige. But when she had removed her bra and sat waiting for the reactions from Colin, Ron and Seamus, she was brought to tears when the only acknowledgement she got was from Colin, who muttered something about it being about time.

However, it was probably the reaction of Seamus that started the waterworks. As Lavender dropped her bra to the floor, Seamus leaned on the table and looked around Hermione at a part of his ex-girlfriend's anatomy that he had certainly seen before, then he reached over and slipped his finger inside Hermione's bra strap and said, "How 'bout givin' us a looksie too, Granger?"

Of course, Lavender covered herself quickly with her arms, burst into tears and ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Parvati, being the good best friend that she was, ran after her. Shortly after the incident, Colin and the two fifth-year girls had embarked on their little experiment.

Now after two more goblets of that wonderful punch, Hermione seemed to care little that she was sitting at a table in the common room clad in only her bra and knickers, both of which were white cotton with little red hearts. She was also unaffected by the fact that she was sitting in this state with a half-naked Ronald Weasley and a nearly naked Seamus Finnigan.

Ron had apparently had what Dean referred to as beginner's luck because he was still wearing his socks, his jeans and whatever he had on under them. Seamus on the other hand, had suffered more losses with the more punch he drank and would be down to his boxer shorts as soon as he finished removing his jeans that he has just lost to Hermione.

Seamus and Hermione had continued their flirting, and for once in…well it was probably since her first train ride to Hogwarts years ago, she was completely unenamored with Ronald Weasley. There was a boy, a rather handsome boy, who was acting completely smitten with her. Hermione felt like her face was going to burst from the smile that had been on it all evening and she felt like her skin was going to melt at every spot where he would reach over and touch her.

However, in the back of her drunken mind, Hermione still wished that it was Ron who was showing her this kind of attention. Maybe if she had started this flirting thing years ago, it would have been him. But as it was, she wasn't about to turn down the affections of this Gryffindor, even if he was known for being quite the lady's man.

When Seamus sat back down from removing his trousers, he sat obscenely close to Hermione and so that he was facing her side with one of his legs behind her chair and the other in front of her with their knees touching. She would've had to be blind not to see his obvious arousal tenting his boxer shorts. He leaned forward and brushed some of the stray curls behind her ear, and she was just about to turn her face toward his when he gently started running his fingers up and down the inside of her thigh just above her knee, he whispered very close to her ear, "You are absolutely gorgeous, love." His other hand had slipped behind her and came to rest on the small of her back.

Hermione's eyes fell shut and her mouth fell slightly open at the sensation from both his fingers and his words. She felt her body responding to the newfound sensations as her breath was becoming shallow, her stomach felt like it did a flip-flop and, had she been sober she would have been horrified, her nipples hardened and were pushing again the cotton of her exposed bra.

Oh, Merlin, she had never felt like _this_ before. She had heard other girls talk about desire but she had no idea it was so consuming. On top of everything else, no one had ever called her gorgeous, especially not a boy. Viktor, of course, had told her she was very pretty but not gorgeous. _And did he just call me love?  
_  
Hermione was jolted out of her ecstasy by Ron slamming down the deck of cards in front of Seamus. Ron looked pointedly at Hermione and said, "I think it's time to call it a night."

Hermione simply said, "G'Night then," before she turned her attention back to Seamus. Part of her knew that the comment was directed toward her, so when out of the corner of her eye she saw Ron stand, she couldn't believe that he was just going to leave her there without an argument.

'_He really doesn't care for me. There is no way he missed Seamus' "condition," and he has to know what Seamus is thinking of doing with me. Oh, Merlin, is he leaning toward me…for a kiss? Does Ron have any idea what I'm thinking about doing with Seamus?' _Then she felt a hand wrap around her upper arm and pull her to her feet.

"Hermione, I think it's time **you** call it a night."

Hermione jerked her arm out of his grasp. Even though she had been hurt just moments before thinking that he didn't care enough to look out for her, she was now thoroughly hacked off because he wanted to make decisions for her. "Maybe I don't want to call it a night, yet. Ronald!"

Ron grabbed her forearm this time and attempted to pull her away from Seamus. "Maybe I don't want you to do anything else stupid tonight."

"Stupid! You're calling me stupid, Ronald? Isn't that like the kettle calling the pot black? At least, I'm not stupid enough to get caught snogging in an empty classroom. By the way, how _was_ detention? Surely nowhere near as much fun as what you were doing to get that detention."

Hermione had managed to wrench her arm free from Ron, who seemed to be stunned by the fact that she obviously knew about his little escapade. She stood swaying, with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. She was beginning to think that maybe having so much of Seamus' punch wasn't such a good idea. Not only was she feeling light-headed and slightly nauseous, her emotions were finally starting to get the best of her and she could feel her eyes starting to fill with tears.

"Tell me, Ron," she tried desperately to bite back the tears, "had McGonagall not caught you, would you have taken the little slag right there on the Professor's desk?" She needed to do or say something quick to turn the tables and make him feel as hurt as she was feeling right then. "Maybe **that** you could've gotten right the first time, but I hardly doubt it."

By this point Seamus was laughing and making his way out of his chair and toward Hermione.

"I think you've said enough, Hermione. I also think you need to sober up." Ron drew his wand from his pants pocket.

"What exactly do you plan on doing about it? Are you going to hex me? You think you've got a spell that you can get right on the first try that'll give you the upper hand here."

Ron just stood there, his hands now on his hips in a mocking fashion, smirking at her for a moment. She turned around and noticed that Seamus had stopped moving toward her and was looking back and forth between her and Ron wide-eyed. It took her another moment to piece everything together, then she realized that Ron had spoken while she was rambling on and that after the words 'you think' she had heard the words in her head but not out loud.

Suddenly her mouth was moving and she could hear herself screaming at him even if no one else around her could.

_Bastard! You hit me with a Silencing Charm. You have no right. None at all! You are an absolutely infuriating prat! You just wait until I get my wand. I am going to put more hexes on you than you can count. Exactly what do you plan on proving by doing this? I'm not going to just stand here and let you get away with this. You are so going to pay.'  
_  
Hermione knew she must be a sight with her mouth running like a mad woman and arms flailing. She just didn't know what else to do. She had never been so livid before in her life. She was infuriated further when Ron decided to comment on the situation.

"You know, maybe I should have thought to do _that_ years ago. Would've saved the Gryffindor's a lot of headache's from listening to us row all the time." He chuckled softly.

Quickly Hermione made the decision that since she couldn't get her point across by words and she didn't' have her wand, she had to resort to physical violence. She stomped his socked left foot with the heel of her bare right foot and pushed hard against his chest.

"Ow, Hermione!" Ron exclaimed but barely faltered then he chuckled lightly. "Not only are you a randy drunk, you're a mean one as well. Time to get sober, young lady."

Hermione was just about to push him again for those comments, but before she could react, Ron quickly stooped down and quite easily picked her up and threw her over his left shoulder. He grasped her around her thighs with his left hand and tucked his wand back into his jeans pocket with his right. Of course, Hermione tried desperately to kick but his hold was too strong, so she resulted to pounding her fists on his back.

"What the hell are you doing, Weasley? It looked like Granger was perfectly happy with where she was and what she was doing."

Ron turned to face Seamus and said, "She is not yours to use, Finnigan. Especially not after you get her drunk. If I ever catch you doing this with her again, you'll regret it."

"Well, you know, Weasley, she's not yours either. You always do this. You always think you have to step up and be the knight in bloody shining armor rescuing the bloody damsel in distress. But maybe you're the one that causes her the most distress, Weasley. Maybe you should just back off and give a bloke a chance. It was obvious that she was enjoying herself tonight with **me** on her own accord for that matter. Maybe she realized that I'd be willing to give her something that you aren't willing to give her."

Hermione, who was still slung over Ron's shoulder and struggling, felt Ron's body lunge forward quickly, heard a sound between a pop and a crack and then a thud against the floor. When Ron turned to head towards the stairs to the boy's dormitories, Hermione saw Seamus sprawled out on the floor, unconscious with blood flowing from his nose.

Hermione continued her attempts to break free from Ron. She was so mad that she was actually seeing red. Okay, so that was the back of Ron's head, but still she was furious. She couldn't believe that he had hit another student. Well, of course, Ron and Malfoy had quite a few goes at it, but she couldn't believe that Ron would attack a housemate. And just where the hell did he think he was taking her?

"For Merlin's sake, Mione, stop struggling! You want me to drop you?"

Hermione opened her mouth to retort but knew that it was futile; she simply smacked the back of his head. She was starting to feel dizzy and like she was going to vomit and she knew that her actions were getting her nowhere but worn out so she just let her body go limp.

She was very surprised when Ron stopped at the landing to the second year's dorms, but was even more surprised when he entered the lavatory and locked them in before sealing and silencing the room. He muttered the incantation to light the room and was moving further into its depths. Hermione, who was still looking at where they had been rather than where they were going, had no idea exactly where he was taking her and therefore, couldn't fathom a thought as to what he was planning on doing to her.

Suddenly Hermione heard metal on metal scrapping and assumed it was the sound of a shower curtain being pulled back that was if the boy's showers were set up the same as the girls. She heard Ron mutter another incantation and then heard water running. Before she knew what hit her, Hermione was thrown forward into the stream of a freezing cold shower. Screaming at what would've been the top of her lungs had she not be silenced, she tried desperately to get out of the line of fire, so to say, but in the process she ended up slipping on the wet tile and landed on her bum. She quickly scooted back to cower in the corner of the shower stall. It was at this point that the dam broke causing the tears she had been trying so hard to hold back to flow freely.

Suddenly she heard Ron hiss under his breath, "Dammit," then something she couldn't make out before the shower was filled with the sound of her sobbing. She quickly pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands. Her body was numb both from the alcohol as well as the uncontrollable sobs, so she was completely thrown off guard when Ron was suddenly on the floor next to her and pulling her onto his lap and into a hug. She buried her face in his chest and cried for everything that had broken her heart that day. She cried for not being the girl that Ron was kissing; she cried for the remarks made by her roommates both this afternoon and during the poker game; she cried for the numbness and nausea that she was feeling because of that damned punch; but most of all she cried because she was seventeen years old and this had been the worst birthday yet.

'----------

Reviews encouraged!

A/N – Well there you have it. Chapter 1 of Deuces Wild. I'm planning on this being a three chapter fic, with Chapter 2 recounting Ron's POV of the same day leading up to the same scene in the lavatory. Chapter 3 will then carry on from there and I'm assuming will be from both characters POV at times.

If you liked this fic and haven't already read it, look up _Please Remember Me_ here on this site.


	2. Weasley Is Our King Of Breaking Hearts

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fic. But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

DEUCES WILD 

Chapter 2 – Weasley Is Our King (of Breaking Hearts)

It was just passing eleven-thirty when Ron began his trudge toward the castle from Greenhouse Three. The treck was slow going from the combination of the oversaturated grounds from heavy rains that had been present all day with the strong and gusting wind that he was walking into head-on. About halfway to the castle, Ron, miserable as he was, thought that he should at least be thankful that the rain had finally stopped.

And as if right on queue, the heavens opened up.

"Bloody hell!" Ron cursed as he pulled his robe up over his head and began running for the front doors of the castle.

Tonight had undoubtedly been the worst night of Ronald Weasley's life, and now it seemed as if the powers that be were mocking him by the sudden return of the downpour of rain. He couldn't help but wonder what terrible wrong he had committed for his life to turn to shite so quickly. Okay, so he knew that he'd been feeling a little bit of animosity toward his best mate for being made Quidditch Captain. And there was the fact that he had spent all summer unmercifully teasing his sister about her newest boyfriend only to return to school in the protective, big brother mode and giving said boyfriend, whom happened to be one of his roommates, a rough time so that Dean was jumpy and on edge around Ron.

All right, so both of those occurrences were normal and expected of any teenage boy. However, Ron wasn't ready to admit the real reason his life seemed to be buggered up at the moment. He knew it was karma coming back around to get him, but if he admitted that his life sucked because it was the world's way of getting back at him for the way he had been treating Hermione, he'd have to take a look at why he was acting the way he was with her. That was not an issue that Ron was ready to approach. So he settled for reasoning that his life sucked because he was Ronald Weasley and that was his destiny.

Well, there was also that little Hufflepuff tart that was to be blamed for why his life was the disaster that it was tonight. She was to be blamed for why Ron had spent more than thirty minutes being lectured by the school nurse about how young wizards these days were much too promiscuous and far too nonchalant about their activities, not taking into consideration the consequences of their actions. Consequently, the next excruciating hour or so of his time was spent being lectured about contraception methods including how to cast the Contraception Charm. Ron had never wished more that he could be a quicker study when it came to learning and performing new charms. Once, the nurse was satisfied with his spell work, Ron was sent to the greenhouse to spend the last hour of his detention helping Madam Sprout harvest Noitcifnat Root which was used in brewing a monthly contraception potion that witches could take to help prevent pregnancy.

Now, running back through the sodden grounds in the sodding rain, Ron realized that he'd been too mortified and then disgusted all evening that he hadn't taken proper time to reflect back on the events of that afternoon and to be furious with the fifth year. However, as Ron was quickly becoming drenched in the newly regenerated rain, he was able to reflect back on the events that led to his detention on this Saturday evening.

'----------

_Ron was slowly meandering toward the Great Hall for evening tea purposely taking his time in getting there. This would be the first meal since returning to Hogwarts that Harry would not be attending. Dumbledore had asked for his presence for their first private lesson this evening and Harry had been told by the Headmaster that the house elves would make sure that his meal was brought to the elder man's office since the younger man also had detention that evening with the newest DADA professor, Snape._

_Normally Harry's absence from a meal didn't affect Ron one way or the other, as long as he knew what was going on with his best mate. Tonight, however, Harry missing from dinner would mean that Ron would be alone, well as alone as one could be in a dining hall full of other students, with Hermione for the first time in twenty-seven days, and he didn't think that he was ready for alone time with Hermione just yet. Alone time with Hermione was bound to lead to loads of questions about his recent behavior that would be just too embarrassing to answer. Therefore, Ron hoped that his procrastination in getting to dinner would mean that Hermione would have already eaten and left to return to the Library or the Common Room._

_Ron was so wrapped up in his thoughts of how and why things had changed between him and Hermione that he didn't even notice that his actions were being watched from the doorway of the Transfiguration classroom. Just before he was about to round the corner toward the staircase that would lead him to the Main Hall, he was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone running toward him and yelling, "Hey! Wait! Please!"_

_Ron turned around to find that new Hufflepuff girl in Ginny's year that his sister had been bad-mouthing since the beginning of the term. Apparently in his sibling's own terms, 'She could be Lavender Brown reincarnated, that is if Lavender was dead.' Actually Ginny had said that had this Cecily girl been at Hogwarts her entire time at Wizarding school, she'd probably made Lavender look like a prude. Ron was just about to ask, with annoyance, what the bloody hell the girl wanted when he noticed the panic look on her face._

"_Can I help you?"_

"_You're Ron Weasley aren't you?"_

_Ron felt his concern fade away quickly. Ginny had warned him that this new blonde girl had her eye on him. He was just about to tell her that he wasn't interested, when she threw him for a loop and asked, "You're a prefect, right?" This time she sounded on the verge of panic._

"_Yeah. What's wrong?"_

_The girl grabbed him by the forearm and said, "You've got to help me. Please." Then she was dragging him down the hall back toward the Transfiguration's classroom. "Quick, it's in here."_

_He could feel his heart rate increasing and his body filled with adrenaline. He didn't know what he was about to find, but he pulled his wand for good measure. When the two of them burst into the empty classroom, however, it was just that…empty._

_Again Ron repeated his question. "What's wrong?"_

_The girl took a deep breath and pointed toward the front of the classroom with the hand that wasn't currently wrapped around Ron's arm. "Up there. Behind the desk." She started to walk toward McGonagall's desk once again pulling Ron along with her. _

_Once more, his body began to fill with adrenaline giving him a feeling of urgency. Had it not been for his body's reactions to the excitement of possible danger, Ron would've noticed that it was odd that Cecily still had her body between his and the desk. In all the instances where Ron had seen girls ask for boys help in "fighting something scary", the girls had, if they even bothered to approach the area, kept behind boy._

_As they reached the edge of the desk, the Hufflepuff started to lean forward slightly as to look on the other side. Ron was standing behind the girl at a further distance from the desk, but as he was a bit taller than the fifth-year, he assumed that he wouldn't have to get much closer, so he too started to lean forward as well._

_It happened as quickly as lighting striking. One second Ron was leaning over the shoulder of the new girl to look behind his Professor and Head of House's desk at some unknown danger and the next second she had quickly turned so she was facing him, grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled his lips roughly to hers. Ron had been thrown off guard by the sudden change of position that his hands quickly fell upon the desk on each side of Cecily as he stopped himself from falling completely on top of her._

_It took all of another second for his wits to come back to him and was about to pull away in disgust. However, that second wasn't quick enough when he heard the shrill-pitched voice of the room's proprietor._

"_Ronald Weasley! You step away from that young witch this instance!"_

'----------

Before Ron could begin to reminisce on the lecture that followed, he ran into what felt like a brick wall and his arse hit the hard, wet ground.

"Bloody Hell!"

Ron realized that it wasn't just his voice that yelled the profanity. He looked toward the direction of the "wall" that he hit only to find his best mate on his arse on the wet ground as well. Ron jumped up and quickly helped to pull Harry to his feet as well.

"What are you doing out here, mate?" They both asked at the same time.

"Detention." Again at the same time.

"Detention?" They really had spent too much of their lives together. Ron laughed again at the timing of both of their words. Harry too let out a chuckle as they both raced up the stairs toward the front door of the castle.

Once inside, they both shook out their selves much like dogs do before casting a quick drying charm on themselves. As they passed the Great Hall on their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry asked again.

"Detention?"

"Yeah, it's a long story."

"So give me the quick version."

And so, Ron began a quick recap of the events that evening.

'----------

"So was it at least a good snog?"

"Harry!" Ron shouted in disbelief even though he suddenly burst out laughing. "Well, I really wouldn't call it a snog. It was basically over before it started with McGonagall walking in and all. Plus, it's not like it was…."

Ron stopped abruptly looking at Harry with wide eyes at what he had just about admitted and to Harry of all people. Ron watched in horror as a mischievous smile began to spread across his friend's face; however, Harry just walked past Ron and toward the portrait of the Fat Lady. Ron was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the word that left Harry's mouth wasn't the password.

"Hermione."

"What?" Ron spun around so that he was facing his best mate. "Harry, what …what are you talking, er, about?" Ron chuckled nervously. "Er, that's not…um…the password."

Again, Ron wanted to cringe at the evil grin on Harry's face. "No, it's who you would've rather been kissing."

Ron opened his mouth to start to denying the accusation with all his might, but just couldn't find the energy. The events of this day had him feeling completely drained. He let out a long sigh and his shoulders slumped in defeat. _'Maybe if you talk to someone about it, you'll feel better…even though it is Harry and he's never going to let you here the end of it.'_

"Is it that obvious?" Ron's voice was just above a whisper. He cringed when Harry let out a deep laugh. Ron met Harry's eyes and before the other wizard could say anything, he said, "Please, Harry. Don't! This is hard enough as it is. I don't need you taking the mickey out on me!"

The look on Harry's face changed immediately to almost sympathetic. "It's not that obvious, but let's say that it doesn't surprise me. There has always been a special chemistry between you two."

"Do you hate me?"

Harry scoffed at him. "Why would I hate you, mate?"

"I don't know. I guess part of me just always assumed that you and Hermione would end up together. You know, the hero always seems to get the girl and the sidekick, either death or some sort of rare rash on his bollocks."

"Okay, first all I can say is…ewww!" Ron shot daggers at his friend. "I don't mean _ewww_ 'cause it's Hermione, but _ewww_ 'cause Hermione's like the sister I never had. And second, who says you're not the hero in this story Ron."

"Oh, please, Harry! Every wizard knows that you are and will always be the hero."

"Listen, Ron, hero or not…it's a mute point. If you're worried about what I think of the two of you getting together, don't. I don't know that I can picture either one of you with anyone else."

This time Ron scoffed at Harry. "Well, that's good to know, but I don't think you have to worry about us _getting together_. I think the way I've been treating her lately has ruined any minute chance that I may have had at one time."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that. Why the cold shoulder all of a sudden?"

Ron could feel the famous Weasley blush creeping up his neck and across his cheeks. "Long story, mate, and not one that I really feel like going into tonight, especially here out in the hallway."

"Alright, I can respect that."

Harry muttered the password to a very annoyed Fat Lady who'd been silently waiting for the two of them to decide to finally enter the Gryffindor Tower. Ron followed Harry through the portrait hole with a mumbled, "Sorry."

As the portrait was closing behind them, Ron asked, "Do you think Seamus pulled off his little poker night?"

Harry smirked and gave Ron a pointed look. "Do you honestly think that Hermione allowed it to happen?"

Ron chuckled and headed toward the corner of the Common Room that Seamus had indicated when telling his two roommates about the plans for the evening. Just before he and Harry crossed over the barrier that had been set up, Ron chuckled and said, "Hey, there's a first time for everything isn't there?"

The smile on Ron's face was wiped clean at the sight that greeted him as he stepped up to the table in the corner. Ron knew that his mouth was gaping open. He didn't even hear the first words that his roommate spoke, because he was trying to wrap his thoughts around the fact that Hermione hadn't only allowed the game of strip poker to commence….she was participating as well!

Ron was further shocked when he watched Hermione throw herself into Harry's arms and wrap her legs around his waist. Had the two not just had the discussion about Harry and Hermione and the prospect of there ever being a thing between them, Ron would've probably had to cause bodily harm to The-Boy-Who-Lived-Only-To-Be-Throttled-By-His-Best-Mate.

However, when Harry's hands grabbed onto Hermione's arse to steady the two of them, Ron couldn't help the profanity that he muttered under his breath.

"What the fuck?"

Ron was relieved that Harry quickly disengaged Hermione from his body as quickly as he could and pushed her out to arms length for a better look. Just as Harry asked the question, the thought crossed Ron's thoughts. _'Bloody hell, she's drunk!'_

"Just some of Finnigan's Famous," Ron heard the Irishman answer Harry's question.

This time Ron's voice was loud and strong when he said, "Dammit, Seamus, what the bloody hell were you thinking giving her that shite to drink?"

"Honestly, Ronald! I'm a big girl now and can make my own drink choices. You're acting like he poured it down my throat. Well for your information…"

Ron could see that Hermione's rant was just gaining steam, so he was quite thankful when Harry diffused the situation. However, when he heard that Hermione had willingly drank something with alcohol in it, he wished that she had continued on her rant. No, he didn't want to hear that she was participating in this on her own free will. Hermione didn't do things like this…not _his_ Hermione anyway. _His_ Hermione read obscenely thick tomes and revised her essays and made outlines and study schedules. _His_ Hermione most definitely didn't play strip poker nor did she drink alcoholic beverages. He was just about ready to scream at the top of his lungs _'What have you people done with MY Hermione?' _when he heard Seamus say his name.

He turned his attention to his roommate and was just about to ask him what he had just said when Hermione started walking toward Seamus. Before Ron knew what was happening, she had grabbed onto the other boy's shirt and was starting to lift it off of him.

"Hermione?" Ron was nearly dumbfounded.

Ron didn't even register the words that she said to the Irishman because he couldn't get his mind past how deep and sultry her voice sounded. He felt his heart rate start to increase and felt the beginning of his arousal starting to strain against his jeans. Just when he didn't think that this night could get any worse, Seamus leaned forward and kissed the tip of Hermione's nose and began to flirt with her.

Arousal was the furthest thing from Ron's mind as he felt anger flood his entire being. At this point all he wanted to do was to begin to rip his roommate limb by limb. He looked to Harry to hold him back from doing anything that would get him not only expelled but thrown in Azkaban as well, when it occurred to him that his best mate had deserted him. When Ron turned his focus back on the two across the room from him, he noticed that Hermione was smirking at him. _'It's almost like she's purposely trying to hack me off.'_

Ron was just thinking that he really just needed to pull Hermione away from all this, have the row to end all rows, let her get whatever she needed to off her chest and then be done with all this nonsense. But then Ron was seeing red once again as Seamus stepped up behind _his_ Hermione and pulled her body close. When the other wizard said, "Why don't you sit that pretty little arse of yours back down so I can get you out of your shirt," Ron couldn't help the snarl that erupted from deep in his gut.

Ron felt somewhat comforted that he had heard a similar sound coming from Lavender. He had thought that her relationship with Seamus was going hot-n-heavy once again. Apparently the other Sixth year witch wasn't very pleased with the events that were conspiring either.

"So, Weasley, you in?" Seamus asked as he returned to his seat and picked up the deck of cards to shuffle.

Ron locked eyes with Hermione. Oh there was no way in hell that he was going to just leave her down here alone with Seamus. No, Ron was definitely going to fight tooth and nail to preserve Hermione's innocence because he just knew that come morning she was going to be absolutely appalled by her actions on this night.

Ron threw himself into the chair next to Neville and through clenched teeth said, "Yeah, I'm in."

'---------

As it was nearing about a quarter 'til one in the morning, the game was down to Ron, Hermione and that traitorous wanker that Ron had decided better learn how to sleep with one eye open. Ron had paid little attention to anything that was going on around him other than the watchful eye that he was keeping on the couple that was sitting across the table from him. Ron had only been partially aware of Dean's departure, of Neville passing out with a thud of his head to the table top, of Colin and the two Fifth year tarts moving their own little not-so-private party to the sofa, or to Lavender running toward the girl's dormitory in tears and Parvati following closely behind her.

Ron was, however, completely aware when Lavender lost her bra and sat there at the table in all her glory. He was a sixteen-year-old bloke, after all. Ron had seen topless women before, in those dirty magazines his older brothers had passed down from one to another; however, this was the first time that he'd seen one in the flesh, so to say. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you want to look at it, Ron didn't have time to start to even get slightly aroused, because not mere seconds after Lavender was bare breasted, Seamus was running his finger under Hermione's bra strap and asking for a look at her. Ron began to wonder how long he was going to be able to sit motionless watching the wanker with _his_ Hermione before he threw himself over the table and attempted to rip the little arse's head off.

However, after Lavender ran off in tears, Seamus turned his attention back to the game at hand. Currently, Ron was thankful that he had not been drinking that "Famous" punch, because it allowed him to keep his wits about him. Dean kept going on about how Ron had beginner's luck or something like that. No, Ron just wasn't drunk like the rest of the lot so he had sense enough to fold when he wasn't at least eighty percent sure that he had the best hand.

Of course, there had been a few hands that he had played that didn't turn out the way he wanted and that is why he had lost his jumper, his T-shirt and his shoes. The last thirty minutes or so he had been playing a little more cautiously because he was down to just his socks, which he was told had to be removed as a pair, and his trousers and that was it. Yes, that's right, Ronald Weasley was going "commander" or something like that. He'd heard one of the blokes in the Twins year talking about it one time. There was no way that Ron was going to risk losing his jeans.

Ron was thankful that he had Seamus and his anger toward the other boy, because it kept Ron's hormones in control so that Ron had only got semi-hard when Hermione had removed her T-shirt and Ron got his first look at her cleavage, and there seemed to masses and masses of it. Of course some completely inappropriate comment made by the Irish wizard worked to quickly change his arousal to anger.

Ron felt another wave of intense anger wash over him as Seamus sat down after removing his trousers. However, his roommate didn't sit down fast enough and Ron got a much-unwanted look at the tent in the other boy's boxer shorts. Ron was both sickened and infuriated at how Seamus was obviously getting off on his little actions with Hermione. Ron had reached across the table and grabbed the cards as his soon-to-be dead mate started groping his best female mate and whispering endearments into her ear.

Ron was just about to stand and pull Hermione away from the wanker, when Hermione's eyes fell shut; her head lulled back in ecstasy and a slight moan escaped her parted lips. Ron's jeans suddenly became very tight as he watched her nipples harden and press against the fabric of her bra, right before his eyes. _'Oh, dear Merlin! She's aroused. My Hermione is randy and wanton and not with me.'_

That thought alone was enough to relieve some of the strain against the crotch of his trousers. He needed to put a stop to this now while he still could. Ron was pleased to watch Seamus and Hermione jump apart as he slammed the deck of cards. "I think it's time to call it a night."

"G'Night then," was the only response that he got out of Hermione before she turned her attention back to Seamus.

'_And she has the nerve to call me infuriating!'_

Ron walked around the table, and just as it appeared that the other boy was leaning in to give _his_ Hermione the kiss that Ron should've been giving her, Ron grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Hermione, I think it's time **you** call it a night."

Ron prepared himself for the row that followed, but was silently disappointed when all she did was jerk her arm out of his grasp and spat, "Maybe, I don't want to call it a night, yet, Ronald!"

Well at least she was using his given name so he knew that she was thoroughly hacked off. Ron grabbed her arm again and attempted to pull her away from the other bloke. "Maybe I don't want you to do anything else stupid tonight."

"Stupid! You're calling me stupid, Ronald? Isn't that like the kettle calling the pot black? At least, I'm not stupid enough to get caught snogging in an empty classroom. By the way, how was detention? Surely nowhere near as much fun was what you were doing to get that detention."

Ron felt like his veins had suddenly been filled with ice water. His stomach churned and he thought he was going to be sick. He should've known that it was inevitable that Hermione would hear about what had happened with that Hufflepuff trollop. He had kinda hoped that he could've explained it to her, and Harry too of course so that he didn't have to be alone with Hermione. He knew that if she heard it from anyone else, she would misunderstand what had happened. Apparently he was right.

His heart began to break as he saw the tears starting to fill her eyes. Once again he had managed to make Hermione cry. However, after her next comment, he felt quite a bit less remorse.

"Tell me, Ron, had McGonagall not caught you, would you have taken the little slag right there on the Professor's desk? Maybe **that** you could've gotten right on the first time, but I hardly doubt it."

Ron clenched and unclenched his fist as Seamus began to laugh and make his way over toward Hermione once more.

"I think you've said enough, Hermione. I also think you need to sober up." He then pulled his wand out of his back pocket. As the plan formed in his head, he was really surprised at himself for not thinking to use the Charm in previous rows. I guess maybe he figured that he could only match Hermione magically when she was three sheets to the wind.

Hermione started to spout off some comment that she must've thought was quite witty, by the look on her face anyway, but about mid sentence he calmly said, "Silencio," and completed the proper wand movement. This time Ron just stood there smirking at her as the events of the last few seconds processed in her liquor addled brain.

Then she was suddenly stamping her feet and flailing her arms and her mouth was moving in what would've been one heck of a row, had there been any sound to what she was saying. Ron couldn't help but comment on the situation.

"You know, maybe I should have thought to do _that_ years ago. Would've saved the Gryffindors a lot of headaches from listening to us row all the time." He chuckled softly.

He was shocked when Hermione decided on a physical assault since a verbal one was useless. She stomped his left foot with the heel of one of hers and pushed hard against his chest. Ron barely faltered and chuckled again.

"Ow, Hermione! Not only are you a randy drunk, you're a mean one as well. Time to get sober, young lady."

Ron had decided that he was going to diffuse the situation that had been unfolding by removing Seamus from the situation. However, after Hermione's little outburst of physical abuse, Ron decided that he'd use the method on her that he'd once seen his mother do on a seventeen-year-old Charlie when he'd come home completely pissed from a graduation party a couple nights after returning from his seventh year at Hogwarts.

In one quick scoop, Ron had Hermione over his shoulder with a tight grasp across her bare thighs, which he tried not to think about, and had pocketed his wand once more. Of course, for her part, Hermione was desperately trying to kick at no avail so she resorted to pounding his back with her fists. He was just about to make his way to the staircase to the boy's dormitories when Seamus decided he needed to speak up and attempt to be manly.

"What the hell are you doing, Weasley? It looked like Granger was perfectly happy with where she was and what she was doing."

Ron turned to face the other boy. "She is not yours to use, Finnigan. Especially not after you get her drunk. If I ever catch you doing this with her again, you'll regret it."

"Well, you know, Weasley, she's not yours either. You always do this. You always think you have to step up and be the knight in bloody shining armor rescuing the bloody damsel in distress. But maybe you're the one that causes her the most distress, Weasley. May you should just back off and give a bloke a chance. It was obvious that she was enjoying herself tonight with **me** on her own accord for the matter. Maybe she realized that I'd be willing to give her something that you aren't willing to give her."

Ron didn't know what about Seamus' little ramble had rubbed a raw nerve, but what he said snapped what little resolve he'd held onto all night. Without a second thought, he gave the other bloke a nice right hook across the jaw, which caused him to fall to the floor with a thud. He quickly smirked at the boy, swore under his breath ("arsehole") then headed up the stairs to the boy's dorms.

Of course, Hermione didn't go without a fight. She continued her squirming and at one point even smacked him in the back of the head. Ron was trying to a great extent not to think about the feel of Hermione's nearly naked body against his naked upper body. Quite a few inappropriate thoughts began to run through his head and he decided that beginning tomorrow he was going to have to avoid any alone time with Hermione at any cost.

"For Merlin's sake, 'Mione, stop struggling! You want me to drop you?" The comment earned him another smack on the back of the head, but thankful at that point her body went limp. Ron wasn't sure whether she had just given up the fight or had passed out.

He had thought that if she stopped squirming around on his shoulder that he'd be able to concentrate on the task at hand and not on the feel of her body. As always, though, he was horribly wrong, so when he arrived at the landing to the Second year's dorms, he decided that their lavatory would work just as well as the Sixth year's.

He entered the loo, locked, sealed and silenced the room. He muttered the incantation to light the room and them moved deeper into the interior toward the shower stalls. He stopped at the first one, threw back the shower curtain, turned on the cold water before throwing a still silenced Hermione under the spray. In the process of trying to escape the cold water, she lost her footing and hit the floor on her bum.

Ron was almost amused by the sight, until she quickly scooted back in the corner of the stall, cowering. He didn't need there to be any sound coming from her to know that she was now sobbing uncontrollably. Once again, Ronald Weasley managed to be the world's biggest prat.

"Dammit." Ron drew his wand, pointed it at Hermione and said, "Finite Incantatum." As he pocketed his wand, he watched her pull her knees to her chest and bury her face in her hands. His heart shattered at the sight and at the fact that he had yet again managed to bugger things up between the two of them.

Before he was really thinking about what he was doing, he was on the floor next to her and pulling her onto his lap and into a hug. He'd never been good with any crying girl, let alone a crying Hermione, but this seemed all so natural for some reason. Within seconds, she had buried her face in his chest and continued to sob. Ron felt tears start to sting his eyes so he buried his face into her unruly curls and kissed the top of her head, which made her cry even harder.

In that moment, he resolved that he would never be anything more to Hermione than Ronald Weasley, King of Breaking Hearts.

'----------

Reviews encouraged!

Well hope this chapter was worth the wait. I apologize for being so slow in updating. You all were probably cursing me much like I do some of my favorite author's when they take entirely too long to update.

The next chapter (yet to be written) will be the last in this story. We'll finally find out why Ron has been avoiding Hermione and, of course, they'll be lots of sweet goodness!

If you liked this fic and haven't already read it, look up _Please Remember Me_ here on this site.


	3. Straight Flushed

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fic. But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

A/N – Many, many, many apologies for taking so long to get this chapter to you. I would have to say that just simply laziness on my part is about fifty percent to blame. The other fifty percent is completely Ron and Hermione's fault because for the past two weeks they have wanted to frolic around in the fields of my imagination with lots of other plot bunnies. It took several Chocolate Frogs and a very expensive new quill to persuade them back into this plot. Also, we have come to an agreement that they won't take off again and I won't be so lazy. I hope to write and post the last chapter to this story soon. With that being said….Enjoy! DEUCES WILD 

Chapter 3 – Straight Flushed

Before Ron was really thinking about what he was doing, he was on the floor of the shower stall next to Hermione and pulling her onto his lap and into a hug. He'd never been good with a crying Hermione, but somehow his actions this time just seemed right. Maybe it was the late hour and his exhaustion that left him feeling rather brain addled, but it was as if not thinking, for once, about what his actions around Hermione should be resulted in the most natural of actions.

It was further proved that his reaction to the situation had been the right one when within seconds, she had buried her face in his chest and continued to sob. Ron felt tears start to sting his eyes so he buried his face into her unruly wet curls and kissed the top of her head, which made her cry even harder.

Okay, so it just wouldn't be normal if he did everything right. After all, he, Ron Weasley, was once again the reason why one of his best mates, Hermione Granger, was in tears.

'----------

Ron wasn't sure how long they had sat on the shower floor…his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders; her arms wrapped just as tightly around his neck…but he knew that sitting there in his now wet jeans, he was starting to get quite chilled. He could only imagine how cold Hermione was in just her wet bra and knickers. Of course, Ron was really trying his hardest not to think too much about the fact that she was in only her bra and knickers. _'Just focus on how cold she probably is!'_

Hermione's sobs had finally started to subside, so Ron was just about to mention that maybe they should really get back down to the Common Room so she could get dressed, when her voice cut through the silence.

"What's wrong with me?" Her voice was hoarse from crying, and it sounded as if she had choked back another sob after voicing the question.

He pulled away from her slightly so that he could look down into her face, even though she wasn't looking at him. "Wrong with you?" Ron was hoping for some clarification as to what she was really asking. He wasn't sure if she was questioning the effects of the alcohol, her actions in general that evening, or something else on a much broader spectrum. After upsetting her already this evening, he didn't want to assume the wrong meaning and anger or upset her further.

When she snapped her head so that she was now looking him in the eyes and spat, "Yes, Ronald! What's wrong with me?" he knew that, as was usual with Hermione, no matter what he said in this situation, he was going to hack her off.

The thought that he was at least happy that he was now dealing with _angry-Hermione_ once again had just passed through his mind when she had buried her face in her hands against his chest and was sobbing again. Ron was just about to start running his hands soothingly through her hair when she quickly pulled away from him and was glaring daggers at him. If he didn't think that it would have gotten him hexed, Ron would've shouted to the stars that he cursed the bloody Fates for making girls so damn confusing.

He could tell that she was still angry but her voice remained full of anguish when she shouted, "What's so bloody wrong with me that the only boys I can get to take an interest in me are either grouchy gits who can't even pronounce my name properly or slobbering drunks that are only interested in getting into my knickers?"

Had Ron's heart not nearly broken by what she was implying by her question, he wouldn't have known what to be more amused by: the fact the she, prim and proper Prefect Hermione, had swore; the fact that she had finally acknowledged that Krum was, in fact, a grouchy git; or the fact that she wasn't completely unaware of what Seamus' intentions had been that evening. Ron was contemplating how to respond when his heart did break at her next inquiry.

"Or why one of my best friends suddenly can't stand to be alone with me?" Hermione was staring deep in his eyes as the tears spilled down her cheeks.

Ron grabbed both of her cheeks and proceeded to wipe away the tears with his thumbs. "Bloody hell, 'Mione, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you…it's me…it's all me!"

Hermione broke eye contact by closing them momentarily and then looking down at his chest when she did open them again. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she said, "Ron, I always knew that it was inevitable that you and Harry would get girlfriends, but I guess I was naïve in thinking that it wouldn't change our friendship."

Ron sighed and closed his eyes to compose himself. When Hermione had lashed out at him downstairs about why he had been in detention, he was fairly certain that some of her behavior tonight had been because of whatever she had heard about the incident. However, he didn't think that it would stem as deeply as to his avoidance of her the last few weeks. Now she was obviously assuming that the reason he had been so distant with her was that he had a girlfriend now and didn't want to continue to be friends with her.

He let out a long sigh just before he opened his eyes to find her looking at him once again. "I don't have a girlfriend, Hermione. I'm sure that whatever you were told about what happened today to land me in the worst detention of my life is partially accurate; however, you are completely mistaken as to the reasons behind what happened. Now, I really feel like this is neither the time nor place to go into a bunch of details, but to make a long story short the little slag tricked me into following her under the pretense that there was some kind of trouble. Once we were alone in the classroom, she threw herself at me, which was the same time that McGonagall just happened into her classroom. Had we not been interrupted, I would've proceeded to tell off the Hufflepuff using that language you are so often reprimanding me about."

Again, Hermione was avoiding eye contact. "Then why?" Her voice was just above a whisper.

Ron sighed again and glanced over Hermione's facial features…the way her brow was knitted together in anguish, the way her eyes were glistening once again with unshed tears, the way her lower lip was beginning to quiver just slightly. He hadn't really wanted to go into why he had been avoiding contact and solitary time with her, but watching the emotions that were playing across her face and all the sorrow he had already caused her, he decided to take the high road for once and just come clean with her.

He decided that as it was, he had already bruised their friendship. Failure to give her answers would only deepen the wounds, and giving her anything but the truth would simply kill their friendship in the long run, because the truth always comes out. He knew that the truth would do one of two things: it would either make his wildest dreams come true or it would squash any false hopes he was harboring. Either way, he decided that the truth would probably be best for both of them all around.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he began.

"First, I need you to know that what I'm going to say is probably…no it will change things between us and I'll understand completely if you don't want anything to do with me." Ron was a bit thrown off when her eyes snapped back up to his. His heart rate increased and his stomach clenched. _'Ok, this was easier when she wasn't looking at me.'_ She nodded at him as if she was silently pleading with him to continue.

"Well, you know, that one afternoon at the Burrow after Harry, Ginny, you and I had played a quick round of Quidditch, but is was just so hot that you and Ginny had decided that you'd rather spend your time down by the pond, but me and Harry said we weren't through flying yet."

Even though she looked a bit confused, Hermione nodded insinuating that she remembered the day he was talking about.

"Well about half an hour after you two left, Harry mentioned that he'd had enough and was going to head up to the house to take a quick shower. I figured that while he was showering that I'd fly down by the pond and pop in to see what you and Gin were up to."

Hermione looked thoroughly confused now and was shaking her head slightly. Her voice was hoarse when she said, "But you never came down to the pond that day. Not even when Harry made his way down after he had showered and changed."

Ron closed his eyes once again and tried his best to will himself not to blush as he reached the part of his story that had caused him to suddenly become distant with her. He didn't even open his eyes as he continued because he couldn't bear to see the look of disgust that he knew would be there when he made his confession.

"You were both lying on your stomach's on a blanket on the water's edge when I landed a few meters away. I shouldered my broom and was plotting a way to scare the two of you, when you reached behind your back and untied your top. I'm not completely stupid. I'd heard Fred and George talk about girls and no tan lines. But I was stunned and stopped dead in my tracks. However, it wasn't the act itself that stunned me; it was the reaction it caused in me."

Ron sat in silence a moment waiting for her reaction. When she didn't respond in words or in actions, he hoped that she wasn't confused and that he wouldn't have to explain what kind of reactions he was referring to. He got the shock of his life when he opened his eyes and she was looking at him with wide but hopeful eyes. He was further shocked when she elicited _that_ reaction out of him by simply running her fingers lightly across his cheek and down his jaw and whispering, "Oh, Ron."

Ron clasped his eyes closed tightly and started pleading, "Oh, dear Merlin, Hermione. I'm so sorry. You must think that I'm the world's biggest wanker. You're one of my best mates and I've spent that last three weeks having all kinds of inappropriate thoughts about you. Please don't hate…"

Ron's plea was cut short when Hermione's mouth was suddenly pressed to his. He sat stunned for a moment until her hands made their way into his hair, then his lips were moving against hers and she was responding in full. It was clumsy and wet and lacking in experience, but it was the most amazing feeling that he had ever felt. Her lips were soft but wet and they tasted salty from the tears and sweet from the punch. He boldly ran his tongue along her lower lip, and when she opened up to him, his tongue delved into her warm mouth and he melted into her.

When his lungs were screaming for oxygen, Ron pulled away and slowly opened his eyes to look down at the object of his deepest desires. She was gasping for air and looking at him through heavy lids. He gently ran his fingers over her left cheek and whispered, "Hermione?" He needed to know where they stood…what had just happened between them.

For her part Hermione leaned into his touch and sighed quite contentedly as her eyes slid shut once more. He was debating on whether he should lean back in for another kiss when her eyes suddenly shot open and her hand was covering her mouth. Ron's stomach clenched and he began to panic as it became apparent that hit had suddenly hit Hermione as to what she had done…what they had done.

His heart broke when she gasped, behind her hand, "Oh god, Ron." However, suddenly she was off of his lap and scrambling toward the nearest toilet. When Ron heard her retching, he was slightly relieved that it wasn't their actions that had caused her reaction. As he got up off the floor and went to sit next to her so he could hold her hair back as she emptied the contents of her stomach, Ron hoped that what had just happened between the two of them wasn't alcohol induced as was her current state of vomiting.

'---------

It was after two in the morning when Ron carried Hermione's lifeless body into his dorm room.

Not long after she had finished emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet, she had passed out. Ron decided that there was no way that he was about to leave an unconscious Hermione alone in the Common Room, especially if Finnigan was still down there. He also knew that there was no way that he could get Hermione up to her own room, so the only option left was for him to take her up to his. He quickly cast a Drying charm on both of them before he picked up Hermione and set off up the stairs toward the sixth-year boy's dormitory all the while trying once again not to think about Hermione and her state, or lack, of dress.

When Ron entered the dorm, he noticed that only two of the five beds were occupied. Obviously both Seamus and Neville were both still passed out in the Common Room. Ron shook his head. _Neville…poor bloke…good thing he passed out before he said too much._

Ron gently laid Hermione down on his bed before he rummaged around in his trunk for a clean Cannons T-Shirt. He then struggled with the limp body of his best friend as he pulled the rather-large-on-her garment over her head and worked her arms through the sleeves. She moaned a few times, but other than that she remained lifeless. Once he had her settled into the left side of the bed and all tucked in, he pulled the curtains around the four poster then grabbed his pajama bottoms and was about to head to the loo to change, when his eyes fell on Neville's empty bed again.

Ron sighed. Seamus had dug his own grave this evening (at least in Ron's eyes he had) and deserved to feel like shite when he awoke in the morning. Neville, on the other hand, was a good bloke and didn't really let himself have fun much at all. He definitely didn't deserve to wake up with the hangover that he was sure to have in the morning or the crook in his neck if he remained in the same passed out potion on the table downstairs. Making up his mind, Ron tossed his clothes on top of his trunk and went over to Harry's bedside table to grab his vial of Harrah's Hangover Helper.

The two friends had mail ordered the potions off of the twins, after much ribbing, when they had heard about the little "gathering" tonight. They had planned on joining in on the fun before they had both ended up with detention.

Ron had already known that he'd be giving Hermione his vial of potion, and he didn't think that Harry would really mind giving Neville his dose. After all, there wasn't likely going to be any more "gatherings" before the term was over at Christmas. Ron and Harry would just have to buy more when they went home to the Burrow for the holidays.

When Ron reached the Common Room, he caught sight of all the pieces of clothing that were strewed all over the corner that was no longer protected by Seamus' Disillusionment spell. He decided that it would probably be prudent of him to collect his and Hermione's clothes so that there was no physical evidence of their participation that evening. Also, he figured that if Hermione's clothes were gone, everyone would just assume that she had collected them and had went to bed. With it being Sunday, no one would miss Hermione until around lunchtime if they didn't catch sight of her.

Once Ron had collected their clothing, he pulled on his T-shirt before he gathered Neville's clothes and sat them on the table next to the puddle of drool near his roommate. Then he proceeded to shake the boy until he awoke.

"Hey, Nev. Come on, mate. You need to wake up. We've got to get you up to bed, yeah?"

Neville set up and swayed a bit. When he started to lean forward toward the table again, Ron quickly uncorked the vial of Hangover Helper and poured it down the other's throat. Neville spat and sputtered a bit but then became more alert.

"Ron?"

"Hey, mate."

"What…"

Ron just waved the empty vial in front of the boys face. "Hangover potion. It kicks in right away making you feel a little better, but it's got a mild sleeping draught that will probably be knocking you out again within about ten minutes. You'll feel relaxed and right as rain come morning. Now you better gather up your stuff there and get your arse up to bed 'cause I'm not carrying you."

Neville gave Ron a genuine smile and said, "Thanks, Ron."

"Hey, don't thank me. It's Harry's potion. Come on."

Ron pulled Neville out of his chair, handed him the pile of clothes on the table and nudged him toward the stairs. Once the other boy was on his way, Ron went to grab his and Hermione's clothes when he caught sight of Seamus still lying passed out on the floor. Ron knew that an evil grin was plastered across his face as he Conjured a tube of paint and a brush. As Ron was heading back up the stairs carrying the pile of clothing, he was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be there in the morning to witness the Irishman being found with big, bold, red letters across his chest. _P – O – O – F!_

'----------

When Hermione began to awake early Sunday morning, her consciousness registered four details about her surroundings immediately. The first was that she felt absolutely wretched. Her head was killing her, she felt sore and nauseous so that she couldn't help think that it felt like she may have caught the Muggle flu or something. The second was that it was extremely early in the morning because there seemed to be little light that was filtering into the room. The third and fourth element occurred to her simultaneously. Her feet were tucked under the duvet, an incidence that did not normally occur, and Crookshanks was apparently sleeping in the bend of her legs because she couldn't seem to get her feet out from under the covers.

Hermione struggled a moment to get her feet out of their confines. Ever since she was a little girl, long before Hogwarts, she had never been able to sleep with her feet covered up. She always felt like she was about to suffocate. However, when her efforts only succeeded in making the room start to feel like it was spinning out of control, she decided that perhaps this once it wouldn't kill her to have them covered. Yet, that didn't stop her from pleading with her ginger haired bedmate.

"Crooks, love, please move." Her voice was just barely over a whisper but was filled with pleading desperation.

When she got no reaction, she looked over her shoulder and toward the far end of the bed to see if her cat was sleeping or just being stubborn. Where she expected to see the ball of red hair curled up somewhere between her thighs and her calves, she found a pair of long, ginger hair covered legs in too short pajamas.

In complete shock, she sat bolt upright. However, as quickly as she sat up, she fell back to the bed moaning in agony of the wave of intense nausea that hit her as well as the foggy memories of what had conspired only hours before. What the hell had she been thinking?

Hermione felt the bed shift where Ron moved to set up.

"Mione, you okay?"

She didn't trust her voice or even to open her mouth without spewing all over him and herself, so she simply shook her head in the negative. She thought for a moment about opening her eyes to look at him but decided that not only would the act probably cause her head to split in two, but that it would also cause her to be even more embarrassed than she already was…she could already feel a flush starting to creep up her neck and across her cheeks.

She took a risk in talking and very softly said, "What time is it?"

After a short pause, Ron answered. "Early. Probably just before six."

Then she felt Ron shifting around on the bed and then apparently he was offering her something because he said, with a voice that was deep and full of concern, "Here." Hermione slowly opened one eye and noticed that he was offering her a vial with a bright pink potion.

She closed her eye again and swallowed hard before she whispered, "What is it?"

Hermione's heart and stomach both did a little back flip when Ron gently ran his fingers over her forehead and down her cheek, pushing her hair behind her ear. Again his voice was gentle when he said, "Hangover potion. It'll help, really."

"Where did you get it?"

Hermione heard Ron chuckle before he answered, "Harry and I ordered a vial each when Seamus told us about his little party tonight. I used Harry's on poor Neville and saved mine for you."

"Don't you need it?"

"No, love, I didn't have anything to drink tonight. One of us had to keep our head clear."

Hermione groaned. She was hoping that some of the things that she was remembering about the events of the evening had been fabricated in her own mind. However, she could tell by Ron's tone that she had made a total fool of herself and that he was trying extremely hard to not take the mickey out on her. Hermione rubbed her hands across her face and let out a long, slow breath that caught in her throat when she felt his hand slip under the back of her neck and rub lightly.

Hermione could feel his breath across her forehead as Ron softly spoke. "Come on, Hermione. Please take the potion. It'll make you feel better. I promise."

Her head lulled slowly against the pillow so that she was facing Ron and she slowly opened her eyes. She was shocked to see how close he was, but even more, she was shocked at the sweet smile that was spread across his face. An image suddenly flashed across her mind of his lips against pressed against hers and once again she felt herself blushing because she couldn't decided if the image was fantasy or reality. She quickly shut her eyes again, but nodded as if trying to acknowledge to Ron that she would take the potion.

Moments later she felt the vial being pressed against her lips as Ron was lifting her head. She lifted herself up onto her elbows as she drank down the potion. It took all the willpower she could muster up not to spit the bitter potion in Ron's face. She shuddered as she swallowed down the pink liquid and fell back down to the bed.

It was the most unusual feeling that she had ever felt. Unlike the effects of the alcohol, which took quite awhile to hit her, she could feel the Hangover potion begin to work its magic beginning at the top of her head and washing its way down to her toes. Immediately all the pain and nausea and the dizziness was gone and a smile spread across her face.

Again she rolled her head in Ron's direction and opened her eyes. Time suddenly stood still. Ron was lying on his side propped up on his right elbow with his chin resting in his palm and he was so close and all Hermione wanted to do was pull him to her and kiss that cocky grin off of his face.

She was pulled from what were about to work their way into inappropriate thoughts when he lightly laughed and said, "Feeling better then, party girl?"

Hermione turned so that she could bury her face into Ron's pillow. She knew her voice was muffled as she spoke, but she also knew that he could still hear her.

"Oh, Merlin, Ron. I'm never going to hear the end of it. What have I done?"

She felt a very unfamiliar twinge shoot through her abdomen when Ron started soothingly running his hand through her hair.

"Don't worry about it 'Mione. For once you just let go and acted like a normal teenage witch. Just look at last night as the night that the new Hermione Granger was born."

Again she spoke into the pillow. "Yeah, well, it was also the night the old one was born as well."

"What?"

Hermione didn't really think that she had said the last comment loud enough for Ron to hear what she had said. She debated whether she should repeat it directly to him. He'd hurt her a lot over the past couple of weeks so she wondered if maybe she should hurt him a little as well by making him feel guilty. _'Yeah, but he more than made up for the past weeks with his confession and his actions afterward in the loo. Well that is if it really happened.'_

Hermione risked another look at Ron only to see his face full of anguish. She knew that he apparently had been able to make out what she had said. He was simply questioning the words for his own clarification.

"Blimey, Hermione! Why didn't you say anything about it being your birthday?"

She just shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"I can't believe that Ginny or Harry didn't say anything to me."

Her voice was barely a whisper when she admitted. "They really didn't remember either."

"What was that?"

Hermione sighed and in a more confident voice said, "They didn't exactly remember it either."

"Oh, 'Mione!"

Unexpectedly, she found herself being pulled into Ron's body as he hugged her to him, and once again, that tingle at the close body contact ran rampant through her.

"I'm sorry, love. I really am. I'll make it up to you…we'll make it up to you…I promise."

Hermione pushed herself up on her left elbow so that she could look down into his eyes…those bright blue orbs that held more emotion than she thought that Ronald Weasley was capable of. Suddenly she had an uninhibited desire to run her hand underneath his shirt and across the tight abdominal muscles that she had seen down in the Common Room while teasing his tongue with hers.

Before she could rationalize her thoughts or her actions for that fact, she was doing exactly that. Ron had gasped in surprised initially, but he had quickly become an enthusiastic partner in this dance that they were doing. He returned Hermione's kisses fervently and his hand had worked its way underneath _his_ T-shirt that _she_ was wearing and he was running his hand across her bare lower back.

Hermione shivered as the desire that she vaguely remembered feeling downstairs with Seamus passed over her tenfold. In the back of her mind, she knew that what she was doing and what she really wanted to do was extremely wrong. She was a Prefect, for Merlin's sake. But here she was lying in bed with the boy that had been the object of her desires for several months, snogging like there was no tomorrow, and all she could think about was that she needed more, even if she really didn't know what that more was.

She broke away from the kiss, breathing heavily. Ron quickly pulled her tightly against his chest and she could hear and feel the rapid beating of his heart and his gasps for breath. Still, there was a little voice in the back of her mind that kept screaming that she needed more…that she needed to get closer to him…that she needed release.

Once again, Hermione threw herself at Ron and quickly pushed her tongue into his mouth. Promptly the world shifted and Hermione found herself being pressed into the bed with Ron lying half on top of her. One of his hands was buried in her hair and the other was running eagerly up and down her side.

Feeling rather brazen, Hermione ran her hands down Ron's back and pushed them hurriedly inside the waistband of his pajamas and gripped his bare arse.

Suddenly Ron had jumped away from Hermione, wide-eyed. "Fuck, Hermione!"

Hermione was fighting hard to control her breathing, but once again all she could think of was _'More…I need more!'_ Then it was her turn for her eyes to go wide and she buried her face in her hands.

"Oh, god, Ron. What is happening to me?"

Hermione could fell Ron shifting frantically around on the bed and then he cursed. "Oh, those two sodding prats are dead!"

Her eyes shot open and quickly sought out Ron. His face was flushed, but Hermione couldn't tell if it was from anger or from their previous activities, but he looked as if he could spit fire at that moment if he really tried, so her bet was on flushed from anger. He was staring intensively at the vial that she assumed had contained the Hangover potion that he had given her. She knew that her eyes went wide from fear this time when her mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of what could've caused her current state.

"Ron, where did you get that? Where did you and Harry get the potions from?"

Through gritted teeth, Ron answered, "Those bloody twins." He then set up quickly, pulling his legs up toward his chest and hanging his head between his knees. "Bloody hell, 'Mione. I am so sorry."

"Why?"

He answered her question by simply handing her over the empty vial before he clamped his hands in his hair and began to pull slightly.

Hermione could feel her hands begin to shake and she tentatively turned the vial over so she could read the label. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head and she said, "Oh, shite," under her breath upon realizing that she had just taken a full dose of _A.Disiacs Hangover Potion with Uninhibitor – Takes You From Pissed to Blissed._

This was really shaping up to be the absolute worst birthday ever!

'---------

As always thanks for your support. Your reviews are most welcomed!


	4. Getting Trumped

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fic. But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

DEUCES WILD 

Chapter 4 – Getting Trumped

When he finally deposited Neville safely into his own bed and had changed into his rapidly growing too small hand-me-down pajamas, Ron was suddenly hit with the reality that Hermione, the object of his deepest desires, was currently asleep in the bed that he was about to climb into. He hesitated as he returned from the loo and deposited his dirty laundry in the hamper that would be cleared by the house elves at the end of the weekend. He stood momentarily eyeing his roommate's beds and listening to the light (or in Neville's case not-so-light) snores coming from inside the bed curtains. For a split second he wondered if maybe he should just crawl into Seamus' empty four-poster, but he quickly squashed that idea, not only because of the events that had occurred that evening between him and the Irishman, but also because it would raise too many questions if he was found not sleeping in his bed even though it was clearly occupied.

Ron was immensely pleased when he pulled back the curtains to his bed and found Hermione still lying in the same place and position that she had been when he'd placed her in the bed about ten minutes earlier. Ron had never realized how tiny his friend was until he saw her lying on her side, curled into a little ball, taking up only a small portion of surface area. As he climbed in on top of the duvet and settled down lying on his back, he was quite thankful that Hermione was so small because it allowed him to lie comfortably on his back without touching her. It was going to be hard enough sleeping in the same bed as Hermione without actual physical contact let alone with it. He couldn't even begin to image how he would've dealt with the situation had their bodies been touching in some manner.

He pulled the curtain closed, cast a quick Warming Charm on himself since he would be sleeping without the comfort of his warm blankets and then quickly stuffed his wand underneath his pillow with the vial of Hangover Potion, before settling once again on his back. Hermione stirred just a bit but quickly became still once more. Ron closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him away. After the day he'd had, the horrible detention he'd suffered through and then the events since returning to the Common Room, he assumed that sleep would've taken him right away.

However, about an hour later, Ron remained awake and staring at the canopy of his four-poster. Thoughts of the poker game and seeing Hermione become obviously aroused and his admission to her and then that searing kiss kept replaying over and over in his mind. He constantly found himself having to think of disgusting thoughts, such as Professor McGonagall in the shower and Professor Sprout in her skivvies, to calm his own arousal from the events of the day. The last thing he wanted was for Hermione to wake up and find herself in bed with one of her best mates whom happened to be sporting an erection. He also knew that there was no way that he could deal with his condition in his normal means with said witch in bed with him.

It wasn't until he was being pulled out of a dreamlike state by Hermione starting to shift around on the bed that Ron realized that he had finally fallen asleep. He was just about to contemplate how long he'd actually be out when he felt his bed mate sit up suddenly and then just as suddenly fall back to the bed. This time, however, her body was now touching his. He immediately moved to sit up so that his thoughts wouldn't turn improper.

"'Mione, you okay?"

Ron watched as her brow furrowed and then she shook her head ever so slightly indicating that she wasn't okay. He assumed that she was probably being greeted with one heck of a hangover this morning and probably had opted not to speak for fear of getting sick once again. Ron was quite thankful for her choice of actions. As he was watching for any reaction from Hermione that might have suggested that she was about to get sick, he saw the red splotchy patches of embarrassment begin to appear on her neck and across her cheeks.

'_Must all be coming back to her now. Poor thing.'_ He was just about to ask her if she was sure that she was alright when she finally spoke.

"What time is it?" It was spoken very slowly and quite softly.

Ron pulled back the curtain a bit so that he could see the amount of light that was filtering in through the dorm window. Since there were very little and he could still hear the sleeping sounds of his roommates, he assumed that it was still pretty early in the morning.

"Early. Probably just before six."

Ron looked back at Hermione and frowned at her obvious distress. He then shifted around to retrieve the vial of Hangover Potion out from under his pillow. It only slightly registered to him that this vial was a brighter pink than the potion that he had given to Neville earlier.

He turned back toward his friend and said, "Here." He watched as Hermione slowly opened one eye to see what he was offering her. He smiled when she quickly shut her eye again and then swallowed hard and asked what it was. That was his Hermione…always on guard. _'Well, almost always.'_

Ron noticed that when Hermione had lulled her head toward him to inspect the vial that a lock of hair had fallen across her cheek. Without thinking about what he was doing, Ron did the one thing that he had longed to do for ages. He gently ran his fingers over her forehead and down her cheek before pushing that stray bit of hair behind her ear. He quickly pulled his hand away and sat wide-eyed, staring at his hand as if it were something he'd never seen before. He felt the bed shift a little as Hermione shivered a bit and that pulled his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

"Hangover Potion. It'll help, really."

"Where did you get it?"

Ron actually chuckled a bit this time at her questioning the help he had to offer. "Harry and I ordered a vial each when Seamus told us about his little party tonight. I used Harry's on poor Neville and saved mine for you."

"Don't you need it?"

"No, love, I didn't have anything to drink tonight." Ron panicked at his use of an endearment with her and decided that he needed to say something else that would distract her from picking up on it. "One of us had to keep our head clear."

When Hermione groaned from apparent embarrassment, Ron knew that he had succeeded in diverting her attention from his slip of tongue. However, his relief was quickly replaced with guilt for making her feel bad. He could tell by the way she was rubbing her face with her hands that she was trying to scrub away the memories. His only thought then was to help her to feel better, so he slid his hand under the back of her neck and lightly rubbed it as he leaned forward slightly so that he could speak softly to her.

"Come on, Hermione. Please take the potion. It'll make you feel better. I promise."

Hermione's head slowly lulled back in his direction and she slowly opened her eyes. His body suddenly tensed at their close proximity and the image of their lips pressed together came flooding into his mind. He was thankful that she closed her eyes almost immediately thus breaking the connection between them. He was relieved when she finally nodded, indicating that she'd take the potion.

Ron carefully popped the stopper out of the vial with the thumb on his left hand as his right hand, still behind Hermione's neck, began to lift her up so that she could drink the potion. Ron was pleased when he saw a smile come across her face. He knew that the potion had worked and that she was obviously feeling better, at least physically. He stuffed the empty vial back under his pillow and lay down on his side facing her, propped up on his right arm.

He was smiling at her when she once again rolled her head his direction and opened her eyes. He was amused when she suddenly got a far-off look in her eyes. He had to chuckle a bit and give her just a bit of a hard time about the situation.

"Feeling better then, party girl?"

Hermione rolled more toward Ron but only so that she could successfully bury her face into his pillow. He could just barely hear her when she said, "Oh, Merlin, Ron. I'm never going to hear the end of it. What have I done?"

Ron knew that she was embarrassed and didn't want that to move on to distraught and ending up in a repeat of what had happened earlier in the loo. _'Well there is a bit you'd like to replay…but don't go there right now, Weasley.'_ In order to help diffuse the angsty situation before it began, Ron started soothingly stroking her hair before he tried to offer comforting words.

"Don't worry about it 'Mione. For once you just let go and acted like a normal teenage witch. Just look at last night as the night that the new Hermione Granger was born."

Again, she spoke into her pillow and Ron kindly wished that he hadn't heard what she had said, because it made his heart plummet. He hoped that perhaps he had misunderstood her, but when she had opened her eyes to look at him again, he saw that pain that came from a circumstance with someone you'd know since you were eleven years old forgetting the day that you became an adult in the eyes of the Wizarding law.

"Blimey, Hermione! Why didn't you say anything about it being your birthday?" Her answer was a simply shrug of the shoulders. "I can't believe that Ginny or Harry didn't say anything to me."

Again, her voice was just barely above a whisper when she admitted, "They really didn't remember either."

Ron's brow furrowed in confusion. Now comment he must have misunderstood. "What was that?"

Ron watch Hermione sigh before she spoke in a more confident tone, "They didn't exactly remember it either."

Ron's heart completely shattered for her in that moment. "Oh, 'Mione!" He didn't think twice before he rapidly pulled her body to his and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry, love. I really am. I'll make it up to you…we'll make it up to you…I promise."

Ron knew that in his lack-of-sleep state that all the emotions he was currently feeling over what had occurred over the last twenty-four hours had to be written clearing across his face. He was expecting a very Hermione-like comment to be made about his range of emotions or lack there of. However, in no way or form had he been expecting Hermione to suddenly be plundering his mouth with hers, demanding entrance with a very eager tongue, while running her tiny hands under his shirt and over his stomach. To say the least, he was a bit shocked at first; however, it didn't take him long to realize that he was in a position to turn one of his many fantasy about this witch into a reality and quickly became an enthusiastic participant.

Ron was further shocked when he went to place one of his hands on the small of her back and found that his T-shirt that she was wearing had ridden up and he could feel a small patch of bare skin underneath the palm of his hand. Feeling quite brazen and deciding that if Hermione could do it than he could too, he worked his hand further underneath the shirt and began to caress the bare skin at the small of her back.

When Hermione pulled away to catch her breath, Ron quickly pulled her to him and held her close. A part of him was actually scared that the last few moments had been a dream that he was about to wake up from at any second. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest quickly pumping blood to a part of his anatomy that he really wished would stay under control at the moment so that Hermione didn't run screaming from his bed. Ron had just started to catch his breath when she had thrown herself at him again and was pushing her tongue into his mouth once more.

Something feral unexpectedly took over in Ron and he quickly shifted their positions so that Hermione was now lying beneath him and his body lying half on top of her and pushing her into his bed. One of his hands was still buried in her hair, where it had been before he shifted their position, and the other hand was running up and down her side as he was internally debating whether he should cross the line and go to completely uncharted territory.

All of sudden all thought was pushed from Ron's mind, probably from lack of blood because it was all southbound, when Hermione's hands were suddenly inside the back of his pants and gripping at his bare arse. He jumped away from her as if she was on fire for fear of exploding right then and there and not only creating a literal mess but also creating a situation that he didn't want to have to even try to attempt to explain.

"Fuck Hermione!"

For a split second, Ron watched an almost untamed look flash across Hermione's eyes before she was suddenly wide-eyed in shock and was burying her face in her hands.

"Oh, god, Ron. What is happening to me?"

Realization quickly dawned on Ron and he frantically searched under his pillow for the empty potion vial. When he read the vial's label, he swore. "Shite! Oh, those two sodding prats are dead!" He couldn't believe the nerve of those brothers of his. Did they think it would be funny to get _little Ronnikins_ all jacked up and randy as hell after he'd spent a night getting pissed.

He could feel his face turning red with anger and a little bit of embarrassment. He was such a fool for not looking at the vial more carefully when it looked slightly different from the one that he'd given Neville. He continued to stare in shock at the vial, trying desperately to come up with how he was going to explain to Hermione that she was currently experiencing the effects of a Hangover Potion laced with a Lust Potion.

Ron was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Hermione question where they, him and Harry, had gotten their potions. Ron gritted his teeth when he answered that it was his twin brothers.

He couldn't take the humiliation of the situation anymore. He quickly sat up, pulled his knees up toward him and hung his head between his knees. "Bloody hell, 'Mione. I am so sorry."

"Why?"

He couldn't bear to answer with words so he just handed her the empty vial. She could read it for herself. Had the situation, once again, been different he would've had to laugh at his proper Hermione swearing when she said, "Oh shite," under her breath, apparently after reading the label of what she had just ingested.

He just knew that Hermione would be furious with him, assuming that he had given her the Potion with the purpose of taking advantage of her while she was in his bed. When Hermione hadn't said anything else or made any movements, Ron risked looking over his shoulder at her. She was still holding the vial with her eyes darting rapidly over the label. When her eyes filled with tears, he couldn't bear to look at her any longer so he once again hung his head between his knees and returned to pulling at his hair.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm so sorry." He continued to repeat over and over in a voice just above a whisper.

Ron felt the bed begin to shift with Hermione's movements, and he assumed that she was preparing to leave. Hell, if he was her, he'd want to get as far away as possible from his perverted self. He jumped when he felt her press her front against his back and work her left arm around his waist, bring her hand to rest across his stomach.

"Ron, it's okay. We can fix this." Her mouth was very close to his ear, so her voice was soft and her breath was warm against his skin.

He slowly turned his face toward her and began to ask what she meant by 'fix' it, when once again her lips were on his. However, this time the kiss was soft and sensual and slow, nothing like the heated kisses that they had just shared. When she slowly ran her hand up his back and into his hair, he was the one to deepen the kiss even though the pace was still slow. He moaned into her mouth when her other hand had worked its way to his thigh and caressed it gently before pushing on it gently so that he lowered it to the bed, with the other following suit. Ron was so lost in the feel of her lips and her tongue that he didn't even realize that Hermione had shifted around so that she was now straddling his thighs until she rolled her hips toward his and their groins came in contact.

Ron threw his head back in ecstasy and he moaned, rather loudly, "Oh, god, Hermione!" He was torn between pushing her away and pulling her closer when he was startled by the voice of one of his roommates filtering in from outside the curtain.

"Dammit, Weasley! Rule 27!" Dean Thomas sounded annoyed even though he sounded drowsy as well.

"Shite!" Ron swore under his breath. "Sorry mate," he said a little louder before he quickly twisted to retrieve his wand from under his pillow and cast the standard sealing and silencing charms on his curtains before he let his head hit his pillow and covered his face in embarrassment. He knew that he was never going to hear the end of it from Thomas. His roommates had needed to remind Ron repeatedly to use the Charms when he needed to take care of business when they were younger that it had almost become habit to him to just cast them automatically when he crawled into bed; however, he had been more than distracted this evening.

Ron became nearly mortified when he opened his eyes to find Hermione still sitting straddling his hips with a sheepish smile spread across her face. He wasn't even surprised when the question came, because with Hermione, he expected nothing less.

"Ron, what's Rule 27?"

Again Ron closed his eyes and covered his face. Through the palms of his hands, he spoke, "Well, you see, ever since first year us blokes have come up with various rules to live by in order to remain a happy group." He really hoped that explanation would be sufficient, but again, he knew that he couldn't expect avoidance of the actual question to slip by Hermione.

"I see."

Ron was just beginning to think that maybe he had been wrong about his Hermione, when he felt her shift on top of him until their private areas were now in more contact and she was lying on top of his chest. Ron moaned as she gently rolled her hips again before ceasing her actions and speaking.

"And what is rule number 27?"

Ron decided to feign ignorance and kept his mouth closed. When she didn't press the matter and ask again, Ron assumed that Hermione, thankfully, wasn't up for a fight. Then she rolled her hips again, succeeding in rubbing her knicker covered center with his cloth covered erection, not once but three times in a row.

He quickly grabbed her hips to still her and said, "Fuck, Hermione. You have got to stop that!"

Her smile had a wicked quality to it that could've rivaled either one of the twins. "Then tell me what Rule 27 is."

Ron closed his eyes again, took a deep breath and then said, "A bloke will always cast a Silencing Charm around his bed when he is…er…"

Hermione's voice was very breathy when she asked, "When he's what, Ronald?"

"Wwweenking." He made sure to mumble the word as much as possible.

Ron nearly came when she leaned forward and ran her tongue around his ear before asking, "What was that, love?"

Starting to feel agitated, aggravated and highly aroused, he nearly screamed, "Wanking, alright! Always cast the charm when we're wanking!"

Ron didn't know whether he was hurt or relieved when Hermione suddenly pulled away from him and sat up. Embarrassment began to converge on Ron with a vengeance, so once again he covered his face with his hands. He took two deep breaths and let them out slowly before he felt Hermione's tiny hands take hold of his and pull them away from his face.

"And why would Dean think that was what you were doing? Do you call my name out often?"

Again Hermione had a smirk plastered across her face so he decided that she had done enough teasing and it was time for him to take control of the situation and shock her for once.

"Always."

Ron had hoped to at least embarrass her with his admission. However, with the way the morning was transpiring, he shouldn't have been shocked when she once again launched herself at him, attacking him with her lips and her hips. Part of him just wanted to let go of all his inhibitions as well, flip her over and start pounding her into the bed, grinding his erection against her center until he found his messy release. Nonetheless, it was his more rational side that took control of the situation, knowing that his friend was not herself, and quickly pushed her off of him.

"Bloody hell, Hermione! You have got to stop that before things get out of control."

"Out of control, Ronald! Out of control! You are not the one who's currently on a bloody Lust Potion!" She shouted nearing tears.

Again, his heart broke at once again hurting his best friend. He sat up and went to pull her in a comforting hug when she smacked his hand away and said, "No Ronald!" He respected her request and leaned away from her.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione. I just don't know what to do to fix this."

"Bliss me."

Ron did a double take and looked at her in shock. She surely couldn't still possibly be suggesting that they… "What?"

Hermione got up on her knees and was shifting around on the bed. Ron was readying himself for another attack and actually chuckled a bit at the fact that he would've never thought he'd be in a position where he'd actually be worried about the witch of his deepest and naughtiest fantasies throwing herself at him.

Ron was pulled from his thoughts when Hermione suddenly stopped moving and was thrusting the empty vial at him. "See, Ron. It says that the potion's effects will wear off either after twenty-four hours or once you've been blessed. So bliss me, Ronald, because I cannot go through today in this condition!"

Ron was shocked that Hermione's bossiness was suddenly present. Later in life he would look back on this moment and laugh at the fact that his prim and proper love was ordering him to give her an orgasm. He quickly came to his wits and tried to diffuse the situation, because he wanted more than anything to be with Hermione, he just wanted it to be genuine and not alcohol or potion induced.

He was shaking his head as he said, "Hermione, we can't. I can't do that to you. I don't want to take advantage to you and that's what it would be."

"No it wouldn't, Ronald. It would be helping me, one of your best friends, out of a very embarrassing and difficult situation."

Ron was trying desperately to come up with a logical argument that a near hysterical Hermione would accept when she suddenly shifted on the bed again, only this time toward the edge away from him and said, "Well, maybe Seamus would be willing to **_rise_** to the occasion."

Ron could literally feel the nerve that was controlling his willpower snap and something completely untamed took over. He grabbed Hermione and pulled her to him and threw her to the bed so that he was looming over her.

"Over my sodding dead body!"

Then his lips were devouring hers.

'----------


	5. Ace in the Hole

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fic. But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay! Life in general took control of most of my free time. I had planned on making this chapter the next to last, but didn't want to leave you hanging much longer so I found a good stopping point and decided to lengthen the chapter count. So after this, I'm planning on two more chapters. I truly hope that the next posting will be much, much quicker. Thanks for sticking with me and this story! By the way, did I mention that I'm sorry for the delay?

Warning! – There is a reason why this story is Rated M and this chapter is it. Proceed with caution!

DEUCES WILD 

Chapter 5 – Ace in the Hole

**_From you friends at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes – A. Disiacs Hangover Potion with Unihibitor: Takes You From Pissed to Blissed!_**

_When the negative effect of alcohol takes its toll on your pleasurable activities, try one vial of our patented hangover potion with added uninhibiting lust potion. Immediately relieves all symptoms of a hangover and squashes all inhibitions for an altogether wicked time._

_Note: The effects of the lust potion lasts a full twenty-four hours or until you've been blissed!_

'--------

Needless to say, Hermione was absolutely shocked that she had ingested a lust potion. A Love Potion would've been bad enough in the situation that she was in, but a Lust Potion…that should've terrified her beyond belief. Somehow, though, instead of feeling embarrassed or scared, she felt down right empowered. At the moment the potion took effect, Hermione knew exactly what she needed and she happened to be half naked in bed with the ultimate solution to her problem. After all, the bottle had simply said she just needed to get _blissed_ to end these amazing feelings. So no matter how good she was feeling at the moment, she knew that she needed a good bliss, because there was no way she thought her sanity or her reputation would survive twenty-four hours under the influence.

Therefore, as Hermione began to sensually kiss Ron, she had already devised a plan to lull him into not only a state of arousal but one of compliance as well, so that he'd be eager to help his best female mate out of a rather sticky situation…no pun intended. She was pleased when things seemed to be going according to her plan as she worked her way into straddling his lap. When she rolled her hips to press their cloth-covered groins together, she saw stars exploding behind her closed eyes as her arousal increased tenfold. Her state was further ignited by the moan that she had elicited from her partner. She knew that she had Ron right where she needed him, but then that bloody Dean Thomas had to go and spout off about some damn rule and broke the trance that Ron was in.

Although, she was quite amused at how embarrassed Ron had gotten in explaining Rule Number 27 and admitting that he thought of her when he was taking care of himself, the moment had distracted them from the task at hand. Upon Ron's admission, Hermione had thrown herself at him, kissing him feverishly and once again grinding her groin into his…and oh, it felt so good.

Unfortunately for Hermione, the little distraction of the rule talk brought Ron to his senses enough that he apparently started thinking too much about the situation and quickly pushed her away.

"Bloody hell, Hermione! You have got to stop that before things get out of control."

He had to be joking, right? Her anger suddenly flared.

"Out of control, Ronald! Out of control! You are not the one who's currently on a bloody Lust Potion!" She was glad he had recently cast a Silencing Charm because she was screaming at the top of her lungs as she began to feel her eyes sting with tears.

Then the prat actually tried to fix the situation by pulling her into a hug. "No Ronald!" she said as she smacked his hand away. Didn't he realize that it wasn't coddling that she needed from him?

"I'm sorry, 'Mione. I just don't know what to do to fix this."

Well that was easy…

"Bliss me." She was fairly pleased that she had shocked Ron. He was staring, wide-eyed at her, probably trying to discern exactly what she was asking for.

"What?"

'_Yep. Clueless.'_ Hermione thought as she decided that she'd probably be better at getting her point across if she showed him the message on the potion vial. Had circumstances been different, she may have stopped to laugh at the way he immediately tensed when she started shifting around on the bed.

She found the empty vial near the foot of the bed, apparently having been pushed down there in their earlier activities. She quickly shifted around facing back toward Ron and shoved the container in his face.

"See, Ron. It says that the potion's effects will wear off either after twenty-four hours or once you've been blissed. So bliss me, Ronald, because I cannot go through today in this condition!"

Hermione could feel the anger starting to boil in her blood as he began shaking his head frantically. She couldn't believe the gall of him. He obviously wanted her…he'd as much admitted it. Bloody hell, it was his bloody potion that put her into this bloody predicament. If it hadn't been for his statement that followed, she would've laid into him with several of the explicative words that he liked so well and that she seemed to be quickly growing accustomed to.

"Hermione, we can't. I can't do that to you. I don't want to take advantage of you and that's what it would be."

Oh her poor, noble Ron. He was quick to fly off the handle and exhibited the emotional range of, well, a teaspoon, but he really had a heart of gold. She would just need to appeal to his heart and hope that she could get him to drop being so damn noble and do what she was asking him to do without a fight for once. She needed him to see to reason.

"No, it wouldn't, Ronald." She kept telling herself not to sound frustrated and angered. The last thing she needed was to hack him off and start a row. "It would be helping me, one of your best friends, out of a very embarrassing and difficult situation."

She knew as she finished speaking that she hadn't remained calm and was actually starting to sound quite hysterical. When she saw the panicked look in Ron's eyes and knew that he was desperately searching for a counterargument to her plea, she knew that she had one last attempt at getting Ron to stop thinking and start acting.

The Jealousy Card.

Hermione wiped away the slight moisture that had began to pool in the corners of her eyes and scooted toward the edge of the bed. She turned to see that Ron now looked confused as well as scared. She should've felt bad about trumping him, but it had to be done. She needed him and the only thing that had ever lit the fire under his arse was jealousy.

"Well, maybe Seamus would be willing to **rise** to the occasion."

Hermione knew she had made the right move when Ron grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to him and then pushed her to the bed as he hovered above her. She was only slightly scared by the fierce, possessive look in his eyes. However, she was just beginning to register his change in demeanor when he spoke.

"Over my sodding dead body!"

Nearly all thought then left Hermione as Ron's mouth covered hers in their most searing kiss yet. Quickly their tongues battled for dominance and Hermione realized that they kissed like they rowed…with great passion and both itching for control. Eventually she let Ron win so she could concentrate on getting their bodies back in a position to make that lovely contact again. She was thrilled when Ron seemed to have the same desire when he eagerly shifted his body as she shifted her legs to either side of his hips.

Suddenly Ron was nestled between Hermione's legs, and she could feel his hardness pressed against her center. She rolled her hips up into him again, successfully eliciting some of the friction that she was so desperately seeking as well as a moan from Ron that fueled her arousal.

Hermione was pleased when Ron countered her thrust with his own. Finally, she was pushing into him as he was pushing into her, and the newly created friction was causing her body to scream for more…for release. As delicious as she was feeling, she knew that this simple grinding wasn't going to get the job done, but her mind was clouded from pure arousal and the lack of oxygen from the continuing passionate kiss.

Ron obviously was lacking for air, because he broke away from the kiss gasping for air and buried his face in Hermione's neck. At the same time he stilled his hips, to Hermione's disappointment. However, she was pleasantly surprised as his left hand cupped her right breast and gently started kneading it. Once again her mind was a buzz as she was working to catch her own breath when Ron's word caused her breath to get caught in her throat.

"God, Hermione. I want you so much…for so long."

Electricity washed over her body and her heart leapt for joy. She knew that he had made it pretty clear that he wanted her, but to hear him actually say the words caused her heart to melt and her loins to burn. She felt quite emboldened by the admission that she finally shut off all thought and just acted on her desires and feelings.

Ron let out a yelp as she ran her hand down his chest and quickly under the waistband of this pajama pants and wrapped her tiny hand around his hardened length. It was nothing like she had ever expected. It was soft but hard, smooth and silky and the tip was slightly wet. She tentatively slid her hand down the shaft once and whispered, "Oh god, Ron, me too."

When the little game between her and Ron had began after she had ingested that damning potion and she had asked Ron to bliss her, the thought that they would have actual intercourse had never entered Hermione's mind. She wasn't naïve…she knew that there were plenty of ways to reach orgasm without intercourse. She also knew that intercourse alone, especially the first time, wouldn't give her the desired results to end the effects of the Lust Potion. She had thought that Ron would simply use his fingers or, if she was really lucky, maybe his mouth to send her over the edge.

However, as Ron was pushing his pants down and her hand away from his erection, she wondered if maybe things were progressing toward the point of no return in their relationship. She only had mere seconds to think about where things were headed before he had pushed her knickers aside and was plunging into her as he captured her lips in another searing hot kiss.

She screamed into his mouth at the penetration and the invasion of her body, For his part he stilled his movement, but he never removed his mouth from hers. She was amazed at how quickly the burning subsided and was replaced with an altogether different burning…a desire that was all encompassing. She gripped his buttocks with one of her hands and gently sank her fingernails into his flesh. He took this as his cue to move and started moving in and out of her heat at a slow pace.

That was when she realized that his movements were causing a double assault on her senses. Not only was her body reacting to the presence of his hardened member, but it was also reacting to the friction of the edge of her knickers against her oversensitive nub. She would've never guess that she would be spinning out of control so quickly.

When Ron broke the kiss to once again catch his breath and began to start raining kisses on her neck, she started an assault on his neck and shoulder as well. She could feel the pressure quickly increasing and knew that she was moaning and whimpering, but she didn't seem to care. As the world suddenly crashed around her, she bit into Ron's shoulder to keep from screaming. Her action apparently was the precipitating effect that sent her lover over the edge because she felt his body twitch erratically and then she was filled with his warmth. She was still trying to catch her breath when he collapsed on top of her.

As his weight pressed her body into his bed, their bodies still connected, she unexpectedly realized that this moment was far better than the sex or the orgasm. She wrapped her legs and her arms tightly around his body and held him to her. When his breath finally began to slow down to a steady pace, she realized that as nice as the feel of his body on hers was, she was quickly growing sleepy and he wasn't growing any lighter.

She gently ran her fingers through his soft but sweaty hair before she whispered, "I'm having a bit of trouble breathing, love." The endearment slipped out but it felt so natural to say it now. She hoped that she'd get to use it a lot from now on.

"Oh, shite. Sorry 'Mione." He quickly shifted so that he could roll off of her. "Sorry," he mumbled again.

Hermione closed her eyes and was basking in the glow of their love making when she was startled by him casting a Cleansing Spell on the both of them. She abruptly became aware that she needed to adjust her clothes so that she was once again properly covered. She opened her eyes and raised up on her elbows to do just that as Ron was adjusting his pants which for some reason caused her cheeks to reddened as the impact of the events of the past several minutes came flooding into her thoughts.

Had it not been for the exhaustion that suddenly engulfed her, she would've probably had to talk the situation to death. But as it was she could hardly hold her eyes open, so she turned on her side facing Ron and quickly snuggled into his chest. She was pleased when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her to him. She was just thinking that she was feeling absolutely perfect when her words from hours before came screeching into her forethoughts.

"Ron?" she murmured.

"Yeah?"

She let out a contented sigh as she felt sleep beckoning her. She smiled against Ron's chest when she felt his fingers running gently through her hair. "You definitely managed to get it right on the first try." She felt rather than heard him chuckle and then his voice sounded distant but she knew he was talking to her. She managed a soft moan of acknowledgement before sleep finally swept her away.

'---------

Ron could honestly say with one hundred percent certainty that when he had crawled into bed with one of his best mates that the thought of shagging Hermione had not crossed his mind in any sense of seriousness. Of course, what normal sixteen-year-old bloke wouldn't fantasize about the girl of his dreams being in bed with him. But that's all the further his thoughts on the matter had traveled.

Even when they had been snogging or when Hermione was demanding that he bliss her, he still hadn't thought that it would lead to shagging. He refused to take advantage of her…to take something from her that he figured didn't rightly belong to him. At least he assumed that she was still a virgin. Surely she hadn't done _that_ with Krum, had she?

'_No! You will not think about that now!'_

Of course, his whole sense of propriety shut down the moment she suggested that maybe Seamus would help her with her problem. There was no way in hell that Ron was going to let someone of the likes of Seamus "No Shame" Finnigan take something that Ron didn't even feel that he deserved, let alone the Irishman. He literally felt something feral snap inside him and it all became about claiming Hermione before someone else did.

Their kisses were once again intense and full of heat and passion that he didn't realized that he could ever possess. Then there bodies were rubbing frantically up against one another, but it still didn't seem like it was enough. When he broke away for much needed oxygen and his hand found its way to the wonderful mound of one of her breast, Ron made one of the two declarations that he had only dreamt of making to Hermione.

"God, Hermione. I want you so much…for so long."

Then her hand was inside his pants and wrapped around his length and he thought that he would explode just from that sensation, but willed himself not to embarrass himself. Before he really gave his actions a second thought, he was pushing aside her knickers, not even bothering to take them off, and plunging into her tightness with unpracticed skill that could only have come from the knowledge gained from several older brothers.

Ron swallowed her scream and he momentarily felt bad that he had hurt her, but his remorse was quickly squashed when she once again gripped his arse cheek. Then he was moving in and out of her wet heat, and he knew that wanking would never be the same again.

He could feel his orgasm building quickly and was mentally trying to calm himself so that he could last longer for Hermione and hopefully give her what she had been demanding of him. He knew it was a long shot as his brothers had stressed that a bloke doesn't usually get the job done on the first try.

Needless to say, Ron was quite shocked when he felt her muscles pulse around his cock as an orgasm obviously hit her hard. He was thrown into his own mind-blowing release as she bit done on his shoulder at the onslaught of her release. He'd never have guessed that pain could be so erotic.

He collapsed on top of Hermione and was quickly engulfed by her arms and legs into a tight embrace. He worked to get his breathing under control and just as he was finally coming down from the high of his orgasm, Hermione spoke and he quickly realized that he was still lying on top of her and probably effectively crushing her. He rolled off of her and realized that they had created quite a mess in his bed, so he reached for his wand and hastily cleaned them up and adjusted his pajamas.

He fell back to the bed and was staring up at the canopy as the consequences of his actions were starting to play through his mind when Hermione shifted on the bed and snuggled into his chest. His heart melted at the intimacy of the situation…at how much more intimate this simple act seemed than the sex had…and he quickly wrapped his arms around her.

He knew she was nearly asleep when she spoke his name, almost as if asking if he was still awake. It was a few moments after he replied that she finally spoke her mind.

"You definitely managed to get it right on the first try."

He couldn't help but chuckle. After all that had happened between them over the past several hours, or even several minutes for that fact, she still managed to remember the snide remark she had thrown at him in the Common Room about his "performance."

She snuggled deeper into his embrace and this time Ron felt his heart break. Remorse began to overtake him again. He couldn't begin to believe what he had just done. What he had just taken from her and really without her permission. She had asked to be blissed, not shagged. He felt absolutely wretched, but decided that the one thing that could possibly rectify his actions would be making the second of the declarations that he had made in his head to her thousands of times.

"'Mione?"

She made a small sound, much like a whimper, but he took it to mean that she was still listening. He took a deep breath as if he was getting ready to shout something to the world, but his voice was just barely above a whisper when he spoke.

"I love you."

He let out a sigh when she made no response and realized that her breath had evened out. She had obviously been on the edge of sleep when she had acknowledged him a moment before. He didn't know whether she had heard his statement or not. Time would tell as would it tell as to how much of a mess he had made. He resolved not to think too much on it now as sleep started to creep up on him again as well. He leaned up and kissed her forehead before he pulled her a little closer into his body and drifted off to sleep as the morning light was just beginning to filter in through the canopy cloth.

'---------

Please review!


	6. The Turn and The Flop

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fic. But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

DEUCES WILD 

Chapter 6 – The Turn and The Flop

After being asleep probably about twenty minutes, Ron awoke with a start as Hermione shifted her body against his and snuggled in closer. He was glad that he had been brought back to consciousness so that he could recast the sealing and silencing charms around the bed so that they didn't get any surprises from his roommates. However, when he had stared up at the canopy ceiling of his four-poster for several minutes and deemed it near impossible to fall back to sleep, he would've almost been willing to trade getting caught by his roommates with having to lay in bed with Hermione pressed against him while he recounted the events that had transpired over the last couple of hours.

Were things going to change between him and Hermione? Well, of course they would…they had…they'd shagged and just friends just don't do that, right? So what were they now? Was she his girlfriend now? No, he hadn't asked her to be his girlfriend and he was pretty sure that you had to ask someone to be your girlfriend for them to be, well, your girlfriend. So maybe he should ask her to be his girlfriend. He'd spent most of the last year and a half secretly pining for her. He'd even given her that bloody perfume that Ginny had suggested last Christmas, but instead of her seeing it as a 'hey I think about how good you smell all the time' kind of gift, she had said that it was unusual. What did that mean…unusual? What if she didn't want to be his girlfriend?

Suddenly he was hit with a thought that felt like cold water being thrown on him. What if she woke up and was furious with him? It was his potion that he'd given her for the hangover that had inevitably caused her state. What if she didn't want to speak to him or look at him ever again? Could he handle that? Could he handle Hermione not being a part of his life, one way or another? Well, the answer to that was no.

What if she told Harry what had happened and Harry was furious with him? He was sure that he'd officially hacked Seamus off at him, and there was no way that Dean would turn on Seamus. If Hermione and Harry were furious with him and Seamus and Dean didn't want anything to do with him, where would that leave him…with Neville and his bloody plants?

But, wait! What if Hermione simply acted like nothing had happened…like they hadn't lost their virginity to each other? Would he be furious with her if she just wrote off what had happened between them? Yes! So then how would he explain it to Harry? He and Hermione were always rowing about something and Harry being the good friend that he is to both was always trying to get them to make amends. Harry would want to know why they were fighting. What would he tell his friend?

What if she wasn't furious with him, but still didn't want to be his girlfriend? Could he still be just her friend after what they had shared? What if she just wanted to be friends who shagged? Would he want that?

And from there the questions kept circling through his mind. Were things going to change? Would Hermione be mad at him? Would she act like nothing important had happened? Could they still be just friends?

Ron was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize that sleep was taking over him again.

'----------

As Hermione was starting to awake, she was fighting the call of consciousness. She was hugged up to one of her pillows and felt so warm and cozy and had just had the most amazing dream about her and Ron finally getting together and pledging their love to one another in words and in actions, so she was quite reluctant to open her eyes and face the harsh reality of life of being secretly in love with one of her best friends.

However, as she drifted further out of dreamland, she realized that her pillow was quite firm and was moving ever so slightly. She was also assaulted with the memories of cards and clothes and tears and toilets. Then suddenly there was the slight twinge of pain in the muscles "down there" and the harsh reality of what had truly happened between her and Ron hit her. Now she was even more reluctant to open her eyes. She didn't know how she was going to possibly be able to face Ron.

So she laid there a bit longer thinking about how much of a fool she had made of herself by getting pissed and then by seducing Ron after she had ingested that laced potion and then forcing him to have no choice but to shag her. She remembered him making a comment in fourth year about her coming across as a scarlet woman. Hermione knew that there was no way that Ron could look at her now without seeing her as a scarlet woman.

She worried that Ron would think less of her now. She remembered him saying that he thought about her when he would masturbate. Would he be so disgusted with her actions that he'd turn his thoughts toward another…someone with bigger boobs and a better body…someone like Lavender? What if it wasn't her actions, per se, that disgusted Ron but her performance altogether? He'd probably never want to do that with her again.

But wait! Did she want to do that with him again? She definitely had not planned on kissing Ron anytime in the near future let alone losing her virginity to him. She had definitely thought about both a lot but never saw any real hope of either of them ever happening. But both had been amazing that her body couldn't really wait to do either with him again…and soon.

But would he want to do it again? Would he want more than just friendship between them now? What if he just wanted to be…oh what was that term her cousin had used in her last letter from America…oh yeah…what if Ron just wanted to be her friend with benefits. Her cousin Rose had said that was when a guy, or a girl for that matter, doesn't want a commitment of a relationship. They also don't want to deal with the emotions of a relationship, just the physical feelings.

Hermione screamed in her head.

This was ridiculous and she knew it, so she decided to do the one thing that she was really good at…research, and just what is research really….asking questions! So Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she opened her eyes to see if her bedmate was awake.

She was pleasantly surprised to find Ron still apparently asleep. His head was slightly tilted in her direction and his mouth was slightly open as his breaths were slow and even. He looked so peaceful and downright sexy that she hated to wake him, but she was not going to drive herself crazy lying there in his arms and trying to make sense out of where they were headed.

She took in his appearance one last time and stored it away so that she'd have it in case she never got to experience this again, then she closed her eyes for a few seconds before pushing herself up on her left elbow.

"Ron," she whispered.

No reaction.

"Ron," she whispered a little louder.

Still no reaction.

"Ron," she said just a bit louder but also ran the fingers of her right hand gently through the fringe of hair that lay across his forehead.

This time he stirred a bit and let out a contented sigh at which Hermione smiled.

She looked him over once as she decided her next move. Her smile turned a bit mischievous. She really couldn't believe that she was about to do what she was going to do, but then again, in her eyes, her and Ron were on a whole new playing field, at least until he told her that he didn't want to play anymore.

She scooted up a bit so that her mouth was nearer to his ear. Then she slid her hand under his T-shirt and across his abs as she said, "Ronnnald," in a sing-song voice with her voice quiet because of the proximity of her mouth to his ear.

Ron's eyes shot open and Hermione couldn't tell if his look was one of surprise, fear or something else altogether.

"Hermione?" he yelped, but she put her index finger of his lips to shush him. She wasn't sure if the charms were still up around the bed and really wasn't sure what time it was, but was positive that it was late enough in the morning that his roommates were now awake. The last thing she needed this weekend was to get caught in a boy's bed.

Hermione was just getting ready to suggest, in a hushed tone, that they get up and go somewhere that they could talk when she saw that fire flash behind Ron's eyes…the same fire that was there earlier when he had said that she could go find Seamus over his dead body.

Then the world quickly shifted and she was once again on her back being pushed into Ron's bed by Ron's body nearly on top of hers. She was a little startled until his lips descended on hers again and then she was in heaven. Her heart leapt for joy.

Ron was kissing _her_ on his own free will!

She was really just starting to enjoy the feel of his mouth against hers, his tongue gently caressing hers, when he pulled back gasping for air.

He once again looked shocked and scared and confused as he searched her eyes. She didn't know what he was looking for in them, but she nearly melted when he closed his eyes and moaned her name.

"Oh, god, 'Mione."

She grasped the back of his neck and was pulling his lips back to hers when…

"For Merlin's sake, Weasley, you're gonna go blind if you keep at it!"

Hermione was startled when Ron suddenly threw himself off of her and lay panting on the bed next to her.

"Sorry about that again, mate."

"Just be thankful it wasn't Seamus in here to catch you," came Dean's voice from the other side of the curtain. "He's already been up here once this morning screaming at your curtains 'cause he couldn't get to you. You better watch your back for the next couple of days!"

Hermione worked really hard to stifle the laugh that was threatening to escape. _'Seamus would've had a lot more to scream about if he'd been able to get through the curtains this morning!'_

"Thanks, mate! He's not around now, is he?"

"No. It's just me and…" Hermione didn't know if Ron caught the pause, but it didn't go unnoticed by her. "Just me mate and I'm on my way down to breakfast. You best hurry if you want to eat this morning."

"Okay. Thanks and sorry again."

After the sound of the door to the dormitory being closed filled the room, Hermione was just about to ask Ron if he noticed that Dean had acted a little odd, when he quickly sat up and pushed himself toward the edge of the bed.

"I suppose we better get you out of here. I'll just knick Harry's invisibility cloak for you to use and you can give it back to him later."

Hermione was a little distressed at how cold Ron's tone had been. She wondered if he was starting to regret what had happened between them, last night, this morning and already again after awaking just minutes before.

"Ron?" her voice was quiet and cracked from the emotion that filled it.

"Come on. We need to get you out of here while we're alone, so no one sees you. I'll toss you your clothes and you can dress while I get the cloak out of Harry's trunk."

As he started to pull back the curtain so he could get out of bed, she gently grabbed his arm. She wanted the moment they had been having before Dean interrupted them back, but more than anything she wanted to know that they were going to be alright.

"Are you alright, Ron?"

"Fine. Never better." Again his words were cold and he didn't even bother to look at her.

"Are _we_ alright?"

He sat silent for a moment before he said, "Come on, I really don't know how much time we have to get you out of here." With that, the curtain was pulled back and he was out of bed. She watched him disappear around the corner of the bed that was still covered by the curtain and seconds later he returned with her clothes. He gently set them on the bed near her, again without making eye contact, and disappeared around the corner of the bed.

She could hear Ron shifting around in the room and muttering under his breath as she quickly grabbed her jeans and pulled them on. She was just about to pull the T-shirt of Ron's that she'd been wearing up and over her head so she could throw on her own, when she was shocked to hear the voice of her other best friend.

"Looking for this?" Harry had asked. She screamed from the shock, but luckily Ron had shouted at the same time. She quickly clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Harry, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing sitting in your bed with that bloody cloak over you?"

"Well, mostly, I've been avoiding Seamus this morning. He seems to be right hacked off at you for some reason but since he couldn't seem to get to you, he's been pestering me." There was a slight pause before he continued. "But more recently, sitting here listening to you and Hermione talking from behind your bed curtains."

Hermione felt her stomach drop and her heart shoot up into her throat. _Oh god! _She felt like crying. How were they possibly going to explain this to Harry? She didn't even know what was going on between them, so how would she be able to answer Harry's questions, because she knew there would be questions!

"Morning, Hermione!"

She could feel her face heat up from the blush. She willed herself not to get sick all over Ron's bed as she shifted so that she could look out from behind the bed curtains and over at Harry.

"Good Morning, Harry." She tried her best to sound nonchalant and as if nothing was out of the ordinary. However, he voice came out squeaky and filled with guilt.

She nearly did get sick when Harry laughed, winked at her and said, "Well not nearly as good as your morning apparently."

She could feel the blush intensify and knew that she was currently putting the legendary "Weasley blush" to shame. She was searching her mind for a response when Ron spoke up.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Harry?" Hermione couldn't tell if he was scared or angry by the tone of his voice.

Hermione watched as Harry gave Ron a knowing smile and asked, "What it means is what exactly are you doing with _our_ Hermione in your bed this morning?"

Hermione couldn't help but smile as the situation sank in.

Harry wasn't mad or upset; he was teasing them. He was guessing that what had happened in Ron's bed was actually what **had** happened, and he seemed to be happy about it. Hermione's biggest fear ever since she realized that her feelings for Ron were different than those she had for Harry was that Harry would be upset or feel left out if Ron, in reality, returned those feelings and they became a bona fide couple.

For the second time since waking the second time that morning, Hermione's heart leapt with joy until Ron spoke.

"Exactly what are you implying, Potter?" Hermione couldn't understand why Ron was so angry all of a sudden. She watched as Harry threw his hands in the air and was just about to speak again when Ron cut him off.

"That we were shagging? Do you really think I'd do that?" Hermione was certain what his voice held this time…disgust! Her worse fear that morning had just been confirm. She disgusted Ron.

Her eyes immediately filled with tears and all thoughts of not getting caught left her mind. Her only thought was that she needed to get as far away from that bastard as possible. Her own T-shirt forgotten, she bolted out of the bed as a strangled sob escaped her. She only slightly registered both Ron and Harry calling after her in concerned voices as she bolted out the door and down the stairs. She didn't register the shocked looks or the whispered voices as she rounded the corner in the Common Room and sprinted up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. When she reached the landing to the sixth-year dorms, she locked herself in the loo and cried her heart out.

'----------

To say that Ron was shocked when he awoke later, from a slumber he didn't even realize that he had fallen into, to Hermione's soft hand running across his stomach and her even softer voice dancing across his ear would have been the understatement of…well…of the hour the way his weekend had been progressing. Had he not already been lying down, you could've knocked him over with a feather.

When she gently pressed her finger to his lips to shush him, the shock immediately switched to desire. She looked absolutely stunning in the light reflected through his crimson curtains, and the feel of her finger against his lips made him want it to be her lips more than anything. Without giving it a second thought, he quickly flipped her over on her back and had his lips pushed to hers. He decided that he could definitely get use to kissing Hermione, not to mention waking up with her next to him.

He was really starting to enjoy the feel of her lips and her tongue when the reality of the situation hit him and he pulled away gasping for breath.

He frantically searched her eyes for any sign that she didn't hate him or that she really wanted him or that he had just made the next to the biggest mistake in his life by kissing her again. What he saw there was everything that he was feeling and it nearly sent him over the edge. He closed his eyes and couldn't help the moan that escaped as he pleaded with her in his own way.

"Oh, god, 'Mione."

When she grasped the back of his neck and began pulling him back toward her, surely for more snogging, his blood started rushing toward a certain appendage and he was quickly debating whether he should stop and talk to her to see what she wanted from all this or whether he should just close his eyes and act when…

"For Merlin's sake, Weasley, you're gonna go blind if you keep at it!"

'_Oh Bloody Hell!' _Ron shouted in his head. The charms had obviously dissipated and he'd been caught yet again by his sister's boyfriend. He quickly threw himself off of Hermione and lay panting on the bed next to her.

He figured that he better make some reply to his roommate before the curtains were thrown aside and he was caught in an act much worse than wanking. "Sorry about that again, mate."

"Just be thankful it wasn't Seamus in here to catch you." He didn't even want to think about that right now. "He's already been up here once this morning screaming at your curtains 'cause he couldn't get to you. You better watch your back for the next couple of days!"

"Thanks, mate!" Ron was suddenly faced with the reality that he may have to face Seamus with Hermione still in his bed. He needed to know for sure what he was up against. "He's not around now, is he?"

"No. Its just me and…just me mate and I'm on my way down to breakfast. You best hurry if you want to eat this morning."

Ron couldn't help but be thankful for small favors. "Okay. Thanks and sorry again."

As he lay listening for the sounds that would indicate that Dean had left the room, the harsh realism of what had happened between him and his best mate earlier and what had almost happened again hit Ron like a ton of bricks. He'd not only taken something very special from her because of his damn potion, but he'd almost taken advantage of her again just to fill his own needs. He was the lowest of low for even considering taking advantage of his best friend, and he knew that would be what he was doing…taking advantage.

Because as much as he had hoped that it was desire he saw in her eyes, he knew that even if she wanted him, she shouldn't want him and he wasn't going to allow her to settle for him. He'd find some way to apologize to her for everything later. Right now he just needed to get her out of his bed. So after the sound of the door to the dormitory being closed filled the room, he quickly sat up and pushed himself toward the edge of the bed.

"I suppose we better get you out of here. I'll just knick Harry's invisibility cloak for you to use and you can give it back to him later."

He knew that he was probably sounding pretty harsh, but her really just needed her gone so that he could figure out how to fix the mess that he had created. His heart broke when she spoke.

"Ron?" her voice was quiet and cracked from the emotion that filled it.

He swallowed hard and tried his best not to show any emotion at all for fear of breaking down in front of her. "Come on. We need to get you out of here while we're alone, so no one sees you. I'll toss you your clothes and you can dress while I get the cloak out of Harry's trunk."

As he started to pull back the curtain so he could get out of bed, she gently grabbed his arm.

"Are you alright, Ron?"

"Fine. Never better." Again his words were cold and he didn't look at her for fear of crumbling.

"Are _we_ alright?"

He sat silent for a moment. Were they alright? Could they possibly be _alright _after what had happened between them? Was she asking for more from their relationship than just friendship? Why? Why would she want him?

"Come on, I really don't know how much time we have to get you out of here." With that, he pulled back the curtain and was out of bed on his way to retrieving her clothes out of his trunk. When he placed them on the bed next to her, he refused to look at her…he couldn't.

He then quickly went to sifting through Harry's trunk mumbling to himself.

"Oh, come on, mate. It's Sunday morning. What could you possibly be doing with your cloak at this moment? It's just got to be here."

With a swoosh of material, Harry was suddenly sitting in the center of his four-poster staring at Ron. Startled, Ron shouted, "Bloody Hell!"

"Looking for this?" Harry had asked.

"Harry, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing sitting in your bed with that bloody cloak over you?" Ron was too concerned with trying to calm his heart rate that it didn't even occur to him that his and Hermione's short conversation after Dean had left had been in normal voices.

"Well, mostly, I've been avoiding Seamus this morning. He seems to be right hacked off at you for some reason but since he couldn't seem to get to you, he's been pestering me." There was a slight pause before he continued. "But more recently, sitting here listening to you and Hermione talking from behind your bed curtains."

Caught. They were caught. Ron was shocked speechless. He knew that Harry would assume that him and Hermione had shagged, and rightfully so. However, Ron didn't want to share this part of Hermione with Harry. He knew his friend wouldn't want details or anything like that…Hermione was too much like a sister to him; however, Ron suddenly didn't want anyone to know what he had done with Hermione because then they would think of her as a "sexual being" and then he'd have to start knocking all the randy blokes out and branding them as gay.

As Ron was processing all these knew thoughts and feelings, Harry spoke. "Morning, Hermione!"

Ron could hear the unease in her voice when she replied. "Good Morning, Harry."

Ron's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when Harry laughed, winked at her and said, "Well not nearly as good as your morning apparently."

Ron didn't even turn to look at Hermione, but he knew that she had to be beet-red from embarrassment. He was suddenly quite angry at Harry for even assuming that he would take advantage of their best friend, even though Ron really had. Plus, Ron needed the words sex and Hermione to be the furthest from being strung together.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Harry?" Ron bit out.

Ron could've knocked Harry's pearly whites down his throat when he replied, "What it means is what exactly are you doing with _our_ Hermione in your bed this morning?"

'Oh, Merlin! He knows. Harry knows we shagged! Cannot let him think that! Must remove all suspensions from his mind!'

"Exactly what are you implying, Potter?" Ron decided to let anger be his prevailing emotion at the moment. Harry threw his hands in the air and was just about to speak again when Ron cut him off.

"That we were shagging? Do you really think I'd do that?" Ron had truly intended for it to sound as if he, Ron, would stoop as low as to take advantage of their best friend. However, he was a little afraid that the words came out as more disgusted than anything. When Hermione was suddenly sobbing and running from the room, he knew that his fear was confirmed.

"Hermione?" Both Ron and Harry called after her with deep concern.

After she was clearly heading down the stairs, Ron was startled when Harry turned to him and said, "Well, aren't you going to go after her?"

Defeated, Ron plopped back down on the edge of his bed. He had yet again succeeded to send his friend fleeing in tears. "What's the use? She's probably headed up to her room so there's no getting to her right now."

Ron watched as Harry sat down on the edge of his own bed facing toward Ron and apparently waited for Ron to say more. He was replaying all the events over and over in his head and realized that he had really messed things up this time. He had her right where he'd always wanted her. He'd even blatantly admitted to thinking about her when he wanked, so she knew he wanted her. However, when the truth hit him that she actually wanted him, too. He panicked and he'd really messed up any chance he may have had with her.

He buried his face in his hands as he groaned. "Fuck, Harry. I've really messed up this time."

Harry paused for a moment before asking, "What happened, Ron?"

Ron knew that Harry was his best mate and up until this point they'd shared everything with one another for the most part, so Ron took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh before he picked up his wand and shut and locked the door to the dormitory. Then he proceeded to tell Harry about Hermione getting pissed and Seamus trying to get in her knickers. He told Harry about how he had silenced Hermione and tossed her in a cold shower to sober her up. Then he told him how they had kissed and how it was everything that he had expected, but then she had started vomiting from the liquor. Ron explained how he had put Hermione in his bed to protect her since he couldn't very well get her to her own room, and how he'd given her his Hangover potion and how the twins had sent him, Ron, one with a Lust Potion in it as well. Then he struggled to get the information out, but he told Harry that they'd shagged, but without the details, and that they were going at it again when Dean heard him moan.

Harry sat silent for a long time after Ron had stopped speaking. So long, in fact that Ron was starting to feel very uncomfortable. He was just about to tell Harry to say something, anything, when his friend spoke.

"How long?"

Ron was a little confused. Surely, Harry wasn't asking how long _it_ had lasted, was he? "Er, huh?"

"How long have you fancied Hermione?"

Ron could feel himself starting to blush. To think it himself was one thing, but to hear it said so blatantly by someone else made Ron feel more insecure but giddy all at the same time.

"A while now."

"Do you love her?"

"Yes." Ron didn't hesitate at all. The cat was out of the bag, so to say, so he figured there was no point in lying about his true feelings now.

"Did you tell her that?"

"Yes." Ron saw Harry's eyebrows shoot up in amazement. "But I think she was already asleep."

"Well, tell her Ron. As soon as you see her again, you tell her that you love her and that you're sorry for being a gigantic prat about all that has happened and beg for her forgiveness."

Ron scoffed a bit. "I don't think it's going to be that easy, mate. For starter's do you have any idea what yesterday was?" Harry just shrugged her shoulders. "It was her birthday. It was her seventeenth birthday and no one remembered. So everything else that happened was just like the icing on top of the birthday cake."

"Oh, shite, Ron!"

"Yeah, I know. I'm sure that she's feeling pretty worthless while at the same time being beyond hacked off at me. I've been avoiding her for weeks now because of these feelings for her and I missed her birthday while in the whole away in the worst detention of my life."

Ron suddenly stopped. _'Worst detention of my life…detention…Madam Pomfrey…Professor Sprout…Contraception…'_

Ron quickly put his head between his knees and grabbed the sides of his head as he began to hyperventilate. "Oh, fuck, Harry!"

He felt the bed shift where Harry had apparently came over to see what was wrong with him. "Ron, what's wrong?"

As if trying to pound either information in or information out, Ron started pounding his forehead over and over again against his balled up fists. Harry quickly grabbed his shoulders to still his movements as he asked again what was wrong.

Ron sat up to look at his friend. "I'm an idiot, Harry. A buffoon."

"Okay, why?"

"I didn't even think about it. McGonagall and Pomfrey were right…never thinking of consequences."

"Ron, you're not making any sense. What is wrong? Why are you an idiot?"

"Because I got Hermione pregnant!"

'----------

Please Review!

A/N – Well, I think I'm down to just one more Chapter to go…maybe two if I decide to put in an epilogue chapter with other characters recount of what had happened at during the poker game and speculations of what had happened afterwards from Ginny's POV…like she's being filled in on what she missed out on by being sick.

Well hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the others. I'm quite proud that I managed to get it out so quickly with working nearly 60 hours last week (when you add in commute time). I hope to get the next (and possibly final) chapter out by next week.

Also, for those who haven't ever hear the old wives tale apparently too much masturbation is supposed to make you go blind…hence Dean's comments to Ron the second time he thinks he's catching his roommate wanking in a few hours time.


	7. Going All In

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fic. But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

DEUCES WILD 

Chapter 7 – Going All In

"I got Hermione pregnant!"

Ron buried his face in his hands and slumped over so his elbows were resting on his knees. He was about to thoroughly start berating himself for being so stupid, especially after having that bloody Contraception spell drilled into his head, when he first felt the bed shift where Harry stood up and then heard his friend laughing.

"It's not funny, Harry!" he screamed at his soon-to-be ex-mate.

Harry stifled his laugh into a cough then with what appeared to be all the effort he possessed to not start laughing again said, "Come on, Ron. Even if no precautions were taken, the chances of you getting Hermione pregnant after having sex one time is astronomical."

Obviously Harry had forgotten whom he was talking to.

"Harry, I'm a Weasley, and it's been drilled into my head as long as I can remember by my bloody older brothers that Weasleys are extremely fertile." Ron noticed that Harry was about to say something so he interjected and cut any remarks off.

"Plus, look at my parents, Harry! They've only had sex six times, and they've got seven kids! Can't you see that Hermione being in my bed alone increased her chances by about, oh, a million!"

Ron had thought he would've made a good point and that Harry surely couldn't deny the logic behind his statements. After all, it made perfect sense in Ron's anxiety-ridden mind. However, he was wrong, because that bloody Boy-Who-Was-About-To-Be-Pummeled laughed at him…again! Ron continued to seethe and was about to jump from his seated position and get in Harry's face when his friend calmed himself down and spoke.

"Okay, Ron. First of all, I am pretty sure that your parents have had sex more than six times." Ron cringed at the thought. "Second, your mum would've only gotten pregnant from having sex six times and still ended up with seven kids regardless…the twins were only one pregnancy, right? So I'm sure that your little soldiers aren't little Super Soldiers, okay? Plus, don't you think that if just being in close proximity with Hermione would miraculously get her pregnant that she would've been preggers a long time ago? Hey, the way you're making it sound, I should be knocked up by now." Then Harry began laughing again.

Once again Ron buried his face in defeat. He had known that his rationalizations were irrational. He didn't really believe the bit about his parents even though the twins had told him it as fact many times. He had just been grasping at straws. However, the part about Weasley men being extremely fertile being drilled into his head had been the truth. Weasleys were known for their large broods; hence the high fertility rate.

Ron groaned and closed his eyes. He really hoped that he hadn't screwed up Hermione's life by being so caught up in the moment that he temporarily forgot about his 'little soldiers.' He felt his bed shift next to him again and assumed that Harry had sat down next to him again. This was confirmed when Harry spoke.

"Look, mate. Maybe you shouldn't get yourself all worked up until you talk to Hermione. You know, maybe she already had everything taken care of. You know how she is."

Again, Ron's head snapped up to stare at his friend in disbelief. "Exactly what do you mean by 'taken care of'?" Ron was horrified. Surely Harry didn't think that Hermione was on birth control potion, because he knew for a fact that she hadn't cast the charm.

"Well, maybe Hermione's on that potion or something. You know she wouldn't exactly share something like that with us."

"And why, precisely, would Hermione be taking a potion to prevent pregnancy?"

"Maybe for situations like last night?"

Ron could feel his face heat up from anger. "Bloody hell, Harry! I didn't have any idea last night was going to happen! How could Hermione possibly be planning something like that. Hell, as far as she knew, until the wee hours of this morning, I didn't think of her as any more than just one of the blokes!"

Harry looked away from Ron and mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that, Harry?"

His friend took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning back to face Ron. "Maybe it wasn't you that she was anticipating it happening with."

Ron suddenly felt as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown on him as he stared, slack-jawed at his mate. Ron had never given any thought to Hermione fancying anyone at Hogwarts. For the most part Hermione had shown little to no interest in any bloke, well except for Krum.

'Oh, Merlin, what if she had sex with Krum.'

No. No, Ron knew that she had been a virgin; he had felt it. Well, he had been a virgin as well so he wasn't one hundred percent positive, but _'it'_ had felt like his brothers had quite crudely explained. So if it wasn't Ron that Hermione had been planning on shagging, who was it?

Once again his gaze settled upon his best friend. _'What if it's Harry?'_

Ron suddenly went on the defensive. "And exactly who do you think she was planning on it happening with? You? Think she was hoping the Great Harry Potter would have his way with her?"

Ron could see Harry turn red with anger as he stood up again and shouted, "Now wait just one minute! Don't go jumping down my throat. You know that Hermione is like the sister I never had, and I'm pretty sure that she thinks of me as a brother. So don't go taking your anger and your insecurities out on me."

Once again Ron went from angry to defeated in a split second. His shoulders slumped as he ran one hand through his already messed hair. "Then who?" Ron asked, his voice just barely above a whisper.

When Harry didn't answer, he looked up at his friend whom was looking at him with pity that could only come from debating whether to answer a particularly difficult question. Ron adverted his eyes once again.

Harry sighed and said, "Look, Ron. This is all just speculation…"

It didn't go unnoticed by Ron that his roommate had stopped speaking abruptly. He looked at Harry once again. "But?"

"What?"

Ron wondered if he should tell Harry that he was shite at playing dumb. Now that wasn't to say that Harry hadn't had some clueless moments, but Ron could always see through him when he was _acting_ clueless.

"This is all just speculation, **but**…"

"There's been some talk this morning, Ron, and you know that I'm not one to listen to rumors. You know that! But then I heard it from Neville, too, and Neville's not one to lie, especially about Hermione, so I began to wonder if there wasn't some truth…"

"For fuck's sake, Harry! What did you hear?" Ron could feel his empty stomach start to churn as he could feel bile threaten to rise and his heart was clenching with anger and heartache and fear all at the same time.

"They're saying that Hermione and Seamus were awful chummy last night and it didn't seem to be forced or awkward."

Ron fell back on his bed and covered his eyes with one forearm. He was really trying not to think about that stupid game of cards. "Bloody hell, Harry, it was horrible. The way he was touching her and flirting with her made me sick. I'm sure the sod was going to kiss her just before I hauled her out of the Common Room. Seamus' has never given Hermione a second glance. Mostly he's made fun of her. What the hell is he playing at now?"

"I don't know. But, Ron, how did Hermione act? Was she put off by his attention or did she seem to be enjoying herself?"

'She was enjoying herself and she was definitely aroused by his words and his touches.'

Ron growled in frustration, his arm still over his eyes. "Merlin, Harry! What have I done? What if Hermione and Seamus do have something going on and I completely screwed it up? She's one of my two best mates and I just used her and sent her off in tears this morning. What if she hates me now? What if…"

"Ron," Harry interrupted, "you can lie there all afternoon playing 'what if' or you can go find Hermione and straighten this whole mess up. I have a gut feeling that she **was** with the person that she wanted to be with last night, but you won't know for sure if you don't ask her. Then you definitely need to discuss the whole birth control issue so that you don't drive all of us barmy. Okay?"

"What is she won't talk to me?"

"Well, for starter's, I'd apologize, because you sounded a little disgusted this morning when you basically implied that nothing would ever happen between the two of you…even though it did…and I'm pretty sure that she's thinking that you think that she's disgusting. Then just tell her how you feel. In your eyes, you may have already fucked up your friendship so you might as well be honest with her. You never know, the results may surprise you."

Ron sighed and rubbed his face with both hands trying to scrub away all the thoughts that were jumbled in his head. He knew that Harry was right. He needed to talk to Hermione about everything that had happened. There was no changing what had taken place. He didn't even know if he would change it, if he could. So he decided that he needed to act like a man for once in his life and face his best female friend, whom he'd had sex with, and hope that things didn't become a total disaster.

"Alright, mate. You've got a point. I'll find Hermione and make her talk to me. But, first, I think I'm going to sneak down to the Prefect's bathroom and have a soak and hopefully gather my thoughts." Ron felt like quite the poof wanting a bath, but suddenly he was extremely sore and felt really dirty, even though he didn't think he could truly clean that feeling away.

'----------

As soon as Hermione had gained some of her composure back, she decided that the floor of the sixth-year girl's lavatory was not where she wanted to spend the day wallowing in her self-pity. So she quickly pulled herself up off of the floor, went to her thankfully deserted dorm room, collected her things, threw her school robe on over her jeans and Ron's T-shirt and headed to the one place that she had been able to retreat to the previous year when Ron would break her heart or when she just needed a good cry.

The Prefect's bathroom.

'----------

After about ten minutes of soaking and crying, Hermione was finally beginning to feel the pain of both the humiliation she'd endured and the heartbreak she'd suffered beginning to ebb away leaving her entire body and spirit numb. Her eyelids became very heavy and she laid her back against the edge of the pool-size tub. When she started to feel consciousness slipping away, she decided that the bath probably wasn't the best place to fall asleep.

So as the water started to drain, Hermione reluctantly pulled herself out of the tub and quickly dried and dressed in an old pair of jeans and an oversized jumper. She decided that if she was going to spend the rest of the day behind the safety of her bed curtains, she wasn't going to bother with using a Drying charm on her hair. She lazily gathered her belongings and made her way to the door.

She unlocked the door and turned back to make sure that she hadn't left anything behind as she opened the door and started out. Satisfied that she'd left nothing behind, Hermione turned quickly and came face to chest with the boy whom she had hoped to avoid for, well, the rest of her natural existence. She took a sharp step back to try to evade colliding with Ron but only managed to nearly lose her balance. A jolt of electricity shot through her body all the way to her center when he grabbed hold of her waist to keep her from tumbling to the floor.

Hermione was just about ready to curse her body for betraying her current feelings when Ron suddenly jerked away from her as if she were repulsive. Any arousal she may have felt from his touch was quickly replaced with a mixture of anger and hurt.

'_Well, he didn't have a problem touching me this morning! Bastard!'_

She quickly adverted her eyes to her shoes. She couldn't take seeing the disgust that was surely written across his face because she wasn't sure whether it would make her angry to the point of yelling or hurt to the point of tears. At this moment, she really wanted to avoid both as much as she wanted to just avoid Ron. She decided that it would be best for everyone if she just got back to her room as quickly as possible.

"Excuse me," she said in a small voice she didn't even know that she possessed.

She stood there waiting for Ron to move, but he didn't. And she didn't. And she couldn't force herself to look up at him. She was just about to say 'excuse me' again when he suddenly pushed her back through the doorway and into the Prefect's bathroom closing and locking the door behind them.

At that point, her eyes snapped up to his, which were as wide as she felt her own were…as if he was just as shocked as she was by his actions. Then it suddenly struck her! They were alone in a bathroom behind a locked door, and for some perverse reason, this environment seemed much more erotic and private than being behind the closed curtains of Ron's four-poster. As she felt the blush starting to creep across her chest and up her neck, she quickly looked down at the ground.

'Come on, Hermione. Get a grip! He's already made it perfectly clear by his actions earlier with Harry that he finds you hideously unattractive, so don't even think that anything besides a boiling argument is going to happen behind this closed door.'

Hermione heard Ron clear his voice and that snapped her out of her thoughts. "Yes, Ronald?"

She knew she nearly spat the words out at him, but she was readying herself for a fight, because at the moment, anger was the preferred emotion. She was not going to let him see her cry. She would not give him **that** satisfaction. For his part, Ron took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Hermione assumed that he must be stilling himself for the brunt of her anger.

"Look, Hermione…"

He trailed off and Hermione was now debating whether or not to feel sorry for him. As her best mate, she knew Ron was in a tight spot, and her heart wanted to go out to him. However, as the girl with the heart that this boy had ripped out and stomped on, she decided that no piece of her heart was going anywhere near him ever again!

She was just about to make some snide remark about him just spitting out whatever it was that he had to say so she could get on with her day…and life for the matter…when he spoke on his own.

"Hermione, I'm sorry."

Hermione felt her throat constrict from emotion. She wanted him to feel bad for the way he had acted. She wanted him to feel bad for being such a prat. She didn't, however, want him to regret what had happened, and that was exactly what his apology sounded like. To Hermione, it felt as if he was saying that he was sorry for ever touching her in the first place…for ever kissing her…for giving her exactly what she had literally asked for after ingesting that bloody potion. She could feel the tears begin to pool in her eyes. She should have pushed past him then to make her way back to her room, but she was a glutton for punishment.

She swallowed hard before she said, "Sorry for what, Ron?" She couldn't believe that her voice sounded so calm even though it was just barely above a whisper.

Again he took a deep breath before taking a step toward her and answering.

"For hurting you. For acting like a bloody sod this morning when Harry caught us in bed."

Hermione was both shocked and pleased. She was pleased to see the blush that was displayed across Ron's cheeks and the appearance of the tale tell red ears. She was shocked that he was actually sorry for what she wanted him to be sorry for. Suddenly everything was jumbling in her mind so that all she could do was whisper his name.

He took another step toward her and reached out to wipe away a tear that was traveling down her cheek. "What happened between us this morning when we…well, you know…" another deep breath "…it was like a dream come true for me. I was completely honest with you last night in the Second's loo when I told you that I'd been thinking about you that way for some time now. Then this morning, when it happened, it was more than I could've ever imagined, and then I went and bollocks it all up by trying to act all cool and nonchalant about you being in my bed when we got caught, that it sounded as if I was disgusted and regretted what had happened, but I'm not. You have got to believe me."

Hermione didn't let him finish speaking, because she knew Ron and knew that he was just working himself into a never-ending rant. She dropped her bath things and dirty clothes and threw herself into his arms and hugged him tight. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now, but she didn't care. They were tears of joy.

"Oh, Ron. I forgive you. I'm so sorry I just ran out of there like that. I was just so embarrassed by being caught by Harry and then you were sounding like I was this foul and hideous thing and I just had to get out of there. Last night…this morning…whatever…it meant the world to me. I've dreamt of being with you, in any way, shape or form, for so long. I…I lo…I love you, Ron. I have for years now."

Hermione couldn't believe that she had finally made the admission that she'd been dying to do for so long now. She held him tighter, scared that he would shift to try to look her in the eyes to break her heart once again. But he didn't. Ron held her just as tight and didn't say anything. She wasn't sure how long they stood there holding each other before she felt feather-light kisses on the nape of her neck up to her ear.

"Just remember that I said it first," he whispered into her ear.

Hermione quickly pulled back and looked at him quizzically. "What?"

Again, Ron blushed and looked away from her briefly, but he quickly looked back at her and said, "This morning. I thought it was just before you fell back to sleep, but apparently you were already out. I said it to you then. I told you that I, well, that I love you."

Hermione felt her heart skip a beat. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she was still passed out from the alcohol and the last several hours leading up to this moment was nothing more than the musings of a drunken mind. She looked up at Ron through her lashes and asked, "And do you, Ron?"

He flashed her that crooked grin that always instantly melted her heart and lit the fire deep inside her. "More than my sorry arse can put into words."

"Oh, Ron."

Hermione ran her fingers lightly across his cheek and around to the back of his neck pulling him toward her. Their lips had just met when he pulled back slightly.

"Hermione, as much as I'd _**really** _love to get into it with you right now, there's something else we need to talk about first."

Again she looked at him quizzically. "What's that?"

This time when he looked away, he didn't look back at her when he started speaking. "Well, we were kind of wrapped up in what was happening…you know heat of the moment and all…and I didn't even think about casting…um…a Contraception charm or even stopping to find out if you were on any potions or anything. And if you haven't noticed, Weasleys have quite large families mostly due in part of the blokes, um…"

He faltered and was blushing furiously. He let go of her and took a step back and stood looking at his feet. His embarrassment and worry made her love him even more and she smiled at him. She reached out and took hold of his left hand in her right.

"Don't worry about it, Ron. It was…is…taken care of. I've been on Muggle birth control for a little over a year now."

Hermione was taken back when he suddenly jerked his hand from hers and took a step back away from her. She couldn't discern the look that was on his face, but for some reason, she knew that it wasn't good. She thought he'd have been happy to know that they didn't have to worry about any unexpected or unwanted pregnancies.

She should've known that her happiness with Ron would be short lived. It always was. She should've known that it was just a matter of mere moments before he would break her heart again. She was berating herself for opening her heart to him and telling him how she felt.

"Why, the bloody hell, do you need to be on any kind of birth control?" He was fuming mad, which left Hermione completely befuddled.

"Ron…" she started, but he quickly cut her off.

"Exactly who were you planning on shagging, Hermione? Planning on knocking one off with Seamus? Rumor has it that you two have been going at it since the beginning of the term! Is that it? Have you two been shagging like bloody rabbits behind everyone's back for the past year?"

Hermione didn't know what possessed her to act, but act she did. The sound of the palm of her hand making contact with his cheek resounded off the walls of the Prefect's bathroom.

"How dare you!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "How dare you even imply that I'm some sort of…scarlet woman! You know I was a virgin. I know you know! I know you felt it, you bastard!"

Tears pouring from her already reddened eyes, she quickly bent over, scooped up her belongings and pushed passed him, unlocking the door and jerking it open.

"And for your information, not that it's any of your business, my Muggle doctor put me on the pills because of…female problems!" Then she took off down the hall running back to the sanctuary of her own four-poster bed.

'---------

Ron knew that it had to be a record. He knew that there was some higher being somewhere that was tracking such things, and Ron just knew that he had set some new personal record for the number of times that he fucked up where Hermione was concerned within a twenty-four hour time period.

At one point in the Prefect's bath, he had thought that for once in his life, everything was going to work out for him, exactly how he wanted it to. Hermione had told him that she loved him. He was about to taste those lovely lips of hers again, and then he had to bollocks everything up by bringing up the whole contraception issue. But it wasn't the bringing it up that had caused the downward spiral. No, it was Ron Weasley acting like the complete git that he was and flying off the handle when Hermione informed him that she was on a type of Muggle birth control.

He should've been ecstatic that he wouldn't have to worry anymore about forgetting to cast that blasted charm. But how had he reacted? He had started making false accusations and making false assumptions and making her feel like a common slag.

When she had run from the room in tears, again, he knew that he should've followed her and made amends and groveled for her forgiveness. However, he decided that there was only so much damage that he could stomach to cause in one day. Therefore, he had resigned to taking the intended bath and soaked until the Warming Charm on the water had worn off for the third time.

When he had returned to the Common Room, he was nearly pummeled by his sister, whom informed him that he was the world's biggest prat and that he would fix whatever it was that he had done to send Hermione to the point of tears and hiding out behind her bed curtains before the weekend was over. She also informed him that Harry had told her about the three of them forgetting Hermione's birthday and that the two of them had decided that the three of them would throw her a small belated birthday party that evening. He simply grunted at his sister in neither an agreement or a denial before retreating to his room.

He threw himself on his bed and lay staring up into nothingness trying to think of how he was going to "fix" things with Hermione. He was pretty sure that he had messed things up beyond a mere apology. He was also faced with the dilemma of what to give Hermione for a gift at her impromptu party that was only a few hours away. He'd actually already purchased her birthday gift back in the summer on a trip to Diagon Alley with the twins, but now he wondered if he should give it to her. They weren't exactly in a state of being that would warrant such a gift.

Ron closed his eyes and lay taking slow deep breaths when he suddenly realized that his pillow and bed sheets still smelled like her. In that moment he knew that he couldn't go through life without her in it, so he needed to do whatever he could to patch things up between them. So he pulled himself up out of bed and rummaged through his trunk until he found the small gift that he'd purchased several weeks ago. He then dug in his satchel until he found his ink well and a quill. He opened the cover to the small book of poems titled _A Friend Like You_ and wrote:

Hermione – 

_I'm a prat. We both know this, but that still doesn't make up for how I acted or what I said. I'm sorry. I don't think I can say it enough or with enough significance. _

_I meant what I said. I love you. I kinda think I always will. Please forgive me._

_Love,_

Ron 

'---------

Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron all sat around one of the tables in the corner opposite of the "Poker" corner late that Sunday evening. In the center of the table was a small cake with one candle burning in the center of the confection. Hermione sat next to Ginny and Harry next to Ron. Ginny and Harry sang 'Happy Birthday' and were coaxing Hermione to blow out the candle and make a wish.

Ron just sat staring at his poorly wrapped gift, only occasionally glancing up out of the corner of his eye to see that Hermione, for her part, was looking anywhere but at him. Part of him wished that it was him who was blowing out the candle and making the wish, because he'd wish for Hermione to just be happy.

When it came time to open the gifts, Hermione quickly accepted Harry's (a new set of self-inking quills) and Ginny's (a silver bracelet); however, when Ron handed her his package, she hesitated looking at him for the first time the entire evening before taking the gift and quietly saying a weak thank you.

Ron's heart rate increased tenfold as he watched her slowly removing the tattered wrapping paper. He knew he was holding his breath, because her reaction would tell him whether or not they could ever reconcile. As the last of the paper fell to the table, he watched her turn the small book over so she could read the title. His heart clenched when he saw her eyes fill with tears. He was searching her face for some sign as to whether these were good tears or bad tears.

Suddenly, her eyes were locked on his. He struggled to find his voice and finally managed a hoarse whisper. "Open it."

Ron started to get a little nervous when she just continued to sit there searching his face as well. He really wished he could discern the emotion that was playing across hers. He was about to repeat himself, telling her to open the book, when the group was interrupted by the bloody Irishman who had precipitated the events that had led to his current state with one of his best friends.

"Hermione, can I speak to you a moment…in private?"

Ron was disappointed when she finally broke eye contact with him so that she could address his roommate. Ron was just beginning to wonder if she would actually leave him…them…to go with Seamus when his heart nearly broke as she smiled at the other boy and excused herself from their little group. He watched them step away a few meters before Hermione turned so that she was facing Ginny, Harry and Ron's direction.

He suddenly noticed that she still had the tiny book…his gift to her…in her hands. He couldn't hear what Seamus was saying, and Hermione was just nodding with a slightly confused look about her. Then her eyes widened, apparently out of disbelief, and she quickly looked down at her hands as Ron saw her cheeks redden. He was just about ready to get up and pummel the ponce for invading his territory, when Hermione's eyebrows furrowed and she slowly opened the cover of the small book that Ron had given her. Her eyes skimmed over and over the wording before she looked up and across the room.

This was it…the moment of truth. He had put his heart out on the line for one last time with the inscription he had written in the book. Now it was just a matter of whether she would take hold of it or not.

Without breaking eye contact, Ron watched Hermione step around his roommate and was walking back toward the table…back toward him. Again, Ron's heart rate increased, but this time with anticipation. He knew that those tears were happy ones. He could tell by the slight curve of her lips into a small smile.

She had taken about three steps when Seamus had spun around and asked, "So, Hermione, how about it?"

Hermione stopped in her tracks but didn't make any attempts to turn to acknowledge the other boy. Her eyes were still fixed on Ron. Ron had to chuckle a little at his friend who was so much more than that now. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was trying to think of how to let the Irishman down easy, because that was what Hermione did. Ron decided that his first act as boyfriend, at least he hoped he could use that title, was to help his love out of an awkward situation.

Ron stood, quite confidently, and said, "Oi, Finnigan. I think she's going to have to decline."

"We went through this last night, Weasley. You don't have any right to speak on what Hermione wants."

Ron walked around the table and made his way toward Hermione. She only broke eye contact with him long enough to look down at the message written in her book of poems. When she looked back at him again, it was as if she was asking if it was true…if he really truly meant what he had wrote. He smiled at her, ran the pad of his thumb across one tear-stained cheek before he said, "I'm pretty sure I do have the right," before he leaned forward and captured her lips.

Ron only slightly registered the small collective gasp that preceded the silence that filled the Common Room that was quickly followed by an outburst of catcalls and applause. Neither Ron nor Hermione paid any of it any attention. This moment was the perfect end to a rather intense weekend, and neither was about to end it.

Ron knew…and he was sure that Hermione knew as well…that they had a lot of issues to work out and there were still apologies to be made and talks to be had, but for now he was just enjoying the feel of his lips on hers and the feel of the weight being lifted off of him…the weight of carrying around feelings that he felt were unrequited and couldn't be known. Now, the whole world knew how he felt about one of his best mates and she felt the same way.

Sixth Year was definitely going to be their best year yet!

FIN

A/N – The term "Super Soldiers" came from the X-files series.

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Thank you so much for all your reviews and your support. I still am humbled by the wonderful comments that I've received on this story and Please Remember Me.

I'm considering writing an outtake for this story from Ginny's POV but not before I pursue some other plots I've been tossing around for a while. You definitely haven't heard the last from me.

Thanks again! Cheers!


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